Ottens Recovery Stalls?

[Jef Costello]

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/07/08/83105_gfc.html

****!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Surely IF he makes it he will be playing up forward?

Geelong ruckman Brad Ottens recovery has stalled
Michael Auciello
July 8th, 2009




BRAD Ottens' contribution to Geelong's 2009 premiership campaign is growing more uncertain by the week, with coach Mark Thompson yesterday conceding the ruckman has "hit a wall" in his recovery from a knee injury.
The 29-year-old was injured in round two, and despite being listed as two-three weeks away ever since, his return remains unknown to everyone at Skilled Stadium.Thompson admitted there was growing angst among the coaching staff about Ottens' ability to return later in the season.
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"He's a hit a bit of a wall and he can't improve. He's been running and doing everything, but we need him to keep improving and he's not," Thompson said."So we can't progress him too much more until he gets a bit stronger in some of the areas - some of the exercises we're trying to get him to do."He's running, he can do a fair bit (of training, but) it's all the pushing and prodding - acceleration, change of direction, deceleration that are affected."He's OK most days until he has to do some exercises that he just can't do."Unfortunately, I know we get a lot of criticism about putting him down for two or three weeks, but he's still two or three weeks away.
"I think we're confident he'll get back, it's just the timing of when he gets back, we want him back quickly and it's not happening, so there is a little bit of angst there."The Cats' coach said he was unsure why Ottens' recovery was progressing so slowly."All humans act differently and for some reason - we haven't experienced it that often, for the doctors and rehab guys - it's just not happening," Thompson said.
Thompson said he would love Ottens to get a month of footy under his belt before September, but he was a player capable of playing in finals with no game time."We probably would (bring him straight in for a final) but it's probably not great preparation for any player," he said."He seems to be a natural footballer who can pick it up pretty quick."Initially the Cats had expected Ottens to come straight back into the seniors, but a return via the VFL now appears more likely.Thompson said the timing of Ottens' return would dictate how they used him - whether it was up forward or in the ruck."It depends on a lot of things. I can't really answer that, except to say that we'd love him back, he's really agile and if his legs improve a lot then he'll be more likely to play more game time, but until we get him back (and) know how much work he's done, it's an open-ended question, really."

 

[jakethesnake]

Yeah, it is massively worrying those comments from Thompson. All the best to Ottens.

 

[TMS]

Yet yesterday Sam Lane's article had Balme stating they're happy.

Article 1 - Neil Balme:
"He's going well now. We're really pleased with where he is. He's still got a bit of work to do condition-wise, but we're quite pleased with how the knee's presenting."

Article 2 - Mark Thompson:
"He's a hit a bit of a wall and he can't improve. He's been running and doing everything, but we need him to keep improving and he's not."

Geelong supporters:
"F*ck."

 

[ATSAM]

Please tell us the truth, Absolute nonesense two comments on the one day saying the complete opposite. And tell us why. Is it poor medical treatment, is it poor rehab management, is it bad luck. We seem to have a long history of poor medical management particularly with secondary infections which these days can be readily diagnosed and treated.

 

[noclashjumpers]

Yet yesterday Sam Lane's article had Balme stating they're happy.

Article 1 - Neil Balme:
"He's going well now. We're really pleased with where he is. He's still got a bit of work to do condition-wise, but we're quite pleased with how the knee's presenting."

Article 2 - Mark Thompson:
"He's a hit a bit of a wall and he can't improve. He's been running and doing everything, but we need him to keep improving and he's not."

Geelong supporters:
"F*ck."

Typical.

Either they're actively trying to mislead us, or they genuinely don't know what they're doing.

I'm pretty sure it's the former, but as the weeks progress and the contradictory statements mount, I'm becoming less convinced.

 

[Cattery]

Guess they're under no obligation to the supporters, but the stuff that's coming from the club seems to indicate they're taking us, and the football world in general, for idiots.

Wouldn't a definitive statement from a single person along the lines of "we have no real idea when, or if, he'll be available" put the whole matter to bed, this "two or three weeks" business is making them look incompetent.

Personally I'm preparing myself for a finals campaign without Ottens, if he makes it back it's a huge bonus obviously, but it's looking less of a possibility with each passing week.

 

[catswhiskers2007]

I agree, Ottens back at all before or during the finals would be a bonus. Sick and tired of all the game-playing with him and the injury. I know players can suffer setbacks, but am totally over the spin of '2-3 weeks' every week a club official is asked. Can't wait for his return and I doubt if any Cats fans really can either!! Bugger

 

[AM]

I agree, Ottens back at all before or during the finals would be a bonus. Sick and tired of all the game-playing with him and the injury. I know players can suffer setbacks, but am totally over the spin of '2-3 weeks' every week a club official is asked. Can't wait for his return and I doubt if any Cats fans really can either!! Bugger

Not only a bonus, without him back and playing well our chances of getting the silverware lengthen considerably.

 

[donbooger]

Its 2 or 3 weeks because that is how long it would normally take when you reach Ottens stage in the rehab it is not a figure they are plucking from nowhere. Problem is Ottens is not proceeding as normal.

Bomber is prepared for the worse by saying he would throw him straight into a final as a forward so he is not hiding this possibility from the public. He says he is confident he will play again and he probably will, he can run so his fitness base is not declining and he has a lot of time left to return since this is the case. Though it is getting likely as less ruck more forward.

 

[goodoldcats]

i heard it is Golden staph

 

[Hinkley29]

i heard it is Golden staph

sounds like a reliable source

 

[Copernicus]

Be nice if they'd talk straight with us. If he can't play for the rest of the year due to complications, say so. It's been a bloody long time for what was seemingly a routine problem.

 

[Patronus]

sounds like a reliable source

They did at one stage say an infection caused a set back.

 

[Generalissimo]

I heard it's swine flu, radiation poisoning or Morgellon's disease.

 

[Spluff]

We sabotaged his recovery as payback, sorry guys.

 

[goodoldcats]

yes my source is reliable

 

[d_henderson1810]

I say, send him to germany for medical treatment, like they did for Max Rooke in 2007. It worked then.

 

[Ricketts]

All this confusion only means he's not coming back

 

[AM]

All this confusion only means he's not coming back

Doesn't look good. Even if he returns in a few weeks his protracted time out will make it extremely unlikely he'll be the force he was in our other finals appearances. It's a concern because it's light years between and up-and-running Ottens and our next best option.

 

[Vdubs]

Let's get used to no Ottens. If he plays again, great bonus. After all, his last final wasn't exactly awe-inspiring, against opposition we thought he'd dominate, and now no fitness, a year older, we plan for a no Ottens finals series, until proven otherwise.

 

[TMS]

Just to add more hope and confusion! According to the Herald Sun and Geelong Advertiser, anyway.

Brad Ottens mystery at Geelong
Scott Gullan | July 14, 2009 12:00am

SIGHTINGS of Brad Ottens in Geelong are becoming as legendary as the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland.

Everyone says they've seen him. The reported sightings vary from him running the streets like Steve Moneghetti to hobbling around like a pensioner with a walking stick.

There has been no evidence to back up either claim - until yesterday.

Finally the Cats ruckman was tracked down to the terraces of Skilled Stadium doing something that looked a lot like running.

It was the first confirmed sighting of Ottens since early April when he limped from the same ground with a knee injury.

Since that Round 2 game against Richmond, Ottens has been permanently listed as between 2-3 weeks away on the Cats' injury report that is released every Tuesday. It seems nothing has changed.

According to Geelong captain Tom Harley, Ottens is "probably still" two or three weeks away.

Harley, clearly mystified himself about the absence of his premiership teammate, took matters into his own hands last week and arranged a lunch meeting on Friday to try to get to the bottom of the case.

He had taken a long time to get over knee surgery in the off-season and wanted to hand out some tips, given Ottens is quickly running out of weeks to be a factor this year.

"I had lunch with him just to talk about some things because it was similar, although his was not as invasive or as chronic as the operation I had over summer, but still he's going through similar sorts of steps," Harley said yesterday.

"He has been frustrated with how it has panned out but he's definitely making sure he ticks all his boxes to get up. He's got enough time but it is then about what impact you have.

"I think he has to be realistic and I think everyone has to be realistic about what he is going to put out, but he is still a pretty important piece of the puzzle for us."

The word coming out of the inner sanctum was that Ottens was moving the best he had in a long while.

"He did 400s today and he is progressing," Harley said. "He was back running probably the best he has run. I would love to give you more but that's all I know."

The rumour mill had Ottens easing off again last week because of back soreness. This came after Cats coach Mark Thompson had declared Ottens had "hit a wall again".

"I'm not sure he had a back injury but he might have had a couple of days off," Harley said.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25778359-19742,00.html
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/07/14/84411_gfc.html

 

[Claude Balls]

Reasonably positive. If he's doing that sort of running he probably won't be so unfit that he can't acquire decent match fitness within 3-4 weeks. He will have been on the bike and in the pool as well no doubt.

The biggest problem might actually be just getting his touch back. He certainly didn't set the world alight in the GF last year, so if that's the version we get I'm not sure we would have missed him all that much anyway.

I'd love to get Otto, version prelim.07 back in time for this years finals, that's for sure.

 

[jakethesnake]

Meanwhile, the ongoing Brad Ottens saga shows no signs of ending after the club again listed him as two-to-three weeks from resuming.

Thompson said at some point the club had to roll the dice with its No.1 ruckman.

“I think we’re going to try and get him to a stage where we think he’s not 100 per cent but fit enough to play and just see how he goes,” he said.

“I think he’ll probably need five games because he’s a bit slow to start normally.

“That looks like round 18.”

Ottens has not played since injuring his medial ligament in round two. Thompson said Ottens' fitness level would determine if he returned through the AFL or the VFL.

“If he’s only able to 30 or 40 per cent of the game then you’d try the VFL,” he said.

“But if he was right for 50 (per cent) then we’d play him in the AFL probably.”

That is the latest from Thompson. Fairly positive, but not the best news.

 

[Hinkley29]

The new Clark Keating?

 

[Barabbas]

The new Clark Keating?

Brad "September" Ottens.