Injury Blue Healers Discussion - 2024

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Latest Injury Update 28th May …



UPDATES on five Blues leading into Round 12

Caleb Marchbank (managed)
- Availability: available for selection

Marc Pittonet (finger)
  • Did not require surgery
  • Availability: 1-2 weeks

Jack Martin (calf)
- Availability: to be assessed following the Club’s Round 14 bye

Adam Cerra (hamstring)
- Availability: to be assessed following the Club’s Round 14 bye

David Cuningham (calf)
- Availability: to be assessed following the Club’s Round 14 bye




Player

Injury

Update

Matt CarrollGroinRemains on a modified program for at least another month due to groin soreness.(Update: 30 April)
Adam CerraHamstringAvailability: to be assessed following the Club's Round 14 bye. (Update: 28 May)
Matthew CottrellFootUnderwent scans which revealed navicular stress reaction. Club will work through rehabilitation plan in coming weeks.
Availability: to be reassessed following the Club's Round 14 bye. (Update: 14 May)
David CuninghamCalfAvailability: to be assessed following the Club's Round 14 bye. (Update: 28 May)
Sam DochertyKneeSuffered a ruptured ACL and torn meniscus in his right knee. (Update: 9 March)
Jack MartinCalfAvailability: to be assessed following the Club's Round 14 bye. (Update: 28 May)
Hudson O'KeeffeHamstringExperienced a high-grade hamstring strain at training on Sunday.
Availability: 8-12 weeks. (Update: 14 May)
Marc PittonetFingerDid not require surgery.
Availability: 1-2 weeks. (Update: 28 May)
Jack SilvagniKneeHas begun initial stages of rehab following surgery. (Update: 21 February)
 
why do other clubs have hammies that put their players out for 2 weeks whereas ours seem to last a month or more getting them back up to the level. Sometimes I think holding them back is not helping.
 
why do other clubs have hammies that put their players out for 2 weeks whereas ours seem to last a month or more getting them back up to the level. Sometimes I think holding them back is not helping.
I swear its just in this sport that hammys are shit to recover from

I feel like in the NBA and soccer players return in a week or 2 and they are good to go. I guess they also have world class medical teams too

just shows the brutality of our sport.
 

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why do other clubs have hammies that put their players out for 2 weeks whereas ours seem to last a month or more getting them back up to the level. Sometimes I think holding them back is not helping.

Different areas of the hamstring and different levels of damage.

I am more concerned about reoccurring injuries than a player coming back a week early to then be out for another 3-4.
 
I swear its just in this sport that hammys are s**t to recover from

I feel like in the NBA and soccer players return in a week or 2 and they are good to go. I guess they also have world class medical teams too

just shows the brutality of our sport.
nba play every 2nd game how are there hammies in good nick, is it body fat, poor diet, poor sleep, poor recovery, poor program
 
nba play every 2nd game how are there hammies in good nick, is it body fat, poor diet, poor sleep, poor recovery, poor program
They dont't train in season and have billion dollar resources. They also have injury issues, shorter games with way less stress on soft tissue. Look at ankles knees etc and every year they bring more and more rules in to protect ankles and knees as well. Bout the least relevant sport to AFL.
 
Our game is very demanding and challenging on the players' physics. The level of impact they absorb is tremendous its a heavy contact sport. If we want to maintain the spectacle as we know it then the only way around the enormous injuries is shorter game time and reduced seasons.
 
Our game is very demanding and challenging on the players' physics. The level of impact they absorb is tremendous its a heavy contact sport. If we want to maintain the spectacle as we know it then the only way around the enormous injuries is shorter game time and reduced seasons.
Or bigger lists and more rotation.
 

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is our game too long and fast?
I think you have to cross train more. Sprinting + endurance. Strength + speed. Etc. Whereas in other sports your training type usually easily matches the position. Football is very endurance and leg strength, the balance is relatively easy to find in training. I think that balance is just really hard in footy.
 
nba play every 2nd game how are there hammies in good nick, is it body fat, poor diet, poor sleep, poor recovery, poor program

As a basketballer who played a bit of footy (and who is not a sports scientist) I believe that the answer relates to the types of activity and motion in the two sports.

Hamstring injuries tend to come up with fatigued muscles, when running at full gait (big strides) for an extended burst (30m or more) and the muscle stretches and then tears

A basketball court is only 28m total length, and most trips up and back down the court are shorter than someone like Charlie Curnow might cover on a standard lead (ie: most basketball sprints are only 15-20m). Players rarely get up to full speed and instead it is much more about changes of pace, quick explosive bursts and/or jump which tends to put more strain on ankles, knees and feet. I believe that something like 94% of missed games in the NBA are ankle/knee/foot injuries.

As an older bloke now, I can barely run at full speed, but can still play basketball reasonably well, because it just doesn't matter very often. Burst speed is more important, and mostly over 3-4 meters, and smarts/footwork make up for a lot of that. There is no way I could still play footy. I'd get left in the dust and my hammies would explode the first repeat sprint I tried.

In both sports, fatigue and poor technique matter (and fatigue matters in part because it causes poor technique) and put strain on the back as well. But for basketballers, it tends to be twisting back injury (changing direction, twisting in the air, going around an opponent) that actually injures the back - and older players often experience straight up back injuries. With footy players, it's running forward with back out of position which stretches the hamstrings further = more upper hamstring/lower back injuries

IMO this is why high performance maangement matters so much in the AFL. It's such a complex balance between:
  • building base fitness
  • improving biomechanics while running (and executing skills) at full pace
  • sustaining biomechanics when fatigued
  • increasing muscle mass and physical size (typically for younger players) - which changes body shape and biomechanics
  • ensuring rest and recovery between matches

Throw in a ridiculously short pre-season for us and a bizarre start to the year (a match in high humidity, travelling to Queensland, followed by 6 day rest, followed by a bye) and I think it is easy to see how it can be screwed up... club should definitely be pushing to NOT be involved in Round 0 next year....
 
IMO this is why high performance maangement matters so much in the AFL. It's such a complex balance between:
  • building base fitness
  • improving biomechanics while running (and executing skills) at full pace
  • sustaining biomechanics when fatigued
  • increasing muscle mass and physical size (typically for younger players) - which changes body shape and biomechanics
  • ensuring rest and recovery between matches

Throw in a ridiculously short pre-season for us and a bizarre start to the year (a match in high humidity, travelling to Queensland, followed by 6 day rest, followed by a bye) and I think it is easy to see how it can be screwed up... club should definitely be pushing to NOT be involved in Round 0 next year....

Certainly we should have been looking at running styles and improving any flaws there. You'd think that would have already happened. I can see where playing through pain and fatigue might see those flaws resurface though, as we instinctively try to avoid that pain by catering for the source of that pain. It's pretty difficult to teach a player to sustain the correct bio-mechanics in the heat of the moment IMO. It has to be a complete second nature change.

To this end, I wonder how our interchanges work. Is there someone in the box or on the bench watching players, who can tell when a player must come off and rest, or is it up to the player to put his hand up? We know key position players engage in contests, but aren't doing the lion's share of rebound running or chasing, so they tend to stay on the park longer.

We have built a game plan that requires endurance, and thus recruited a lot of endurance runners, but we are getting a lot of injuries to players who aren't know for their endurance running, so the game plan may be too taxing for those types.

For mine, we are one of the trailing clubs as far as building muscle mass in our young players. We seem quite light on compared to many teams. We do however have players moving up and down in weight year on year depending on the role they think they will play. We've seen that affect Cripps a couple of times.
 

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