Riewoldt Surgery

[Modra93]

Riewoldt to miss NAB Cup after surgery
ST KILDA’S hopes of defending its 2008 NAB Cup win have been dealt a blow with skipper Nick Riewoldt ruled out of the pre-season competition after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on Friday night.

The forward spearhead had what the club described as a “routine procedure” after experiencing soreness in his left knee following training.

Recovery is expected to take four weeks, meaning Riewoldt should be fit to play in St Kilda’s opening match of the premiership season against the Swans on March 28 at Telstra Dome.

“This week during training Nick was experiencing some discomfort in his left knee,” said St Kilda Football Manager Greg Hutchison.

“The club and Nick decided the best option was to operate quickly and ensure he is in peak condition for this year.

“As a result of the arthroscopy Nick will miss the NAB Cup pre-season competition. However he is expected to complete a full recovery program with our strength and conditioning team … and be on track for the start of home-and-away season.”

Riewoldt has experienced problems with his knees in the past. A knock received against Richmond in round seven least year saw the inspirational Saint miss just one match, although it was initially feared he could be out for up to eight weeks.

Earlier in 2008, Riewoldt experienced tendonitis in his knee due to a badly corked thigh. The condition kept him out of pre-season action for two weeks and led to unfounded speculation that the captain was suffering from a more serious injury to his anterior cruciate ligament.

http://saints.com.au/tabid/5315/Default.aspx?newsid=71614

So looks like we might have an underdone Riewoldt for the first half oif the year again. Not good signs early.

***SORRY just realised this has already been brought up in the 'Media Thread'.. feel free to delete Mods***

 

[Persevering Saint]

I don't know Mods, I figure this is worth a thread all on its own.

I think that Lynch will take this as an opportunity to prove himself in the NAB. But yeah, bugger.

 

[CHBench]

Yeh probably is.

Ony positive i see in it is the oppurtunty for Kosi to stand up and get back to 04/05 form. Played his best matches when Roo wasn't there.

 

[Jimmy 35]

i hope he does, but i cant see Kosi getting to what he used to be, he looks slow and is accident prone, ive heard some good things from pre season so we might see an improved Kosi. We'll have to see in two weeks time

 

[SaintsMan]

This is the worst possible result for us.
Our most important player will be underdone for the start of the season and won't come good until the second half of the season.
Looks like it will be the usual story of making a late charge for the finals after an average start to the season.
I was hoping that for once we could actually have had everyone fit and we could win early games to take the pressure off of everyone

 

[Kildonan]

This is extremely far from the worst possible result.

The club are simply ensuring that Roo will be right for the majority of the season.

I actually like the idea of the Saints learning to be less Riewoldt dependant. Make our forward line less predictable.

 

[AFLOnline]

Won't be at 100% until half way through the season? Ha laughable.

I recall Riewoldt playing his first game in 2007 in round 3 after hamstring problems and kicking 4 goals against the Doggies, following by another 4 the week later.

 

[Modra93]

Sounds like he was only at about 60% fitness from what you say AFL Online ha

 

[sainter]

No need to overreact Saints Man. He's having an athroscope. In most cases players are back within 4 weeks. Nick's a fitness freak and having done a full pre-season to this point it's not going to put him behind too much at all. Let's just be grateful that it happened now and not mid-season.

 

[Jimmy 35]

god i hope it doesnt keep niggling him later on, this could be serious

 

[Plugger35]

As long as Riewoldt is fit for the start of the regular season that's all that really matters. I doubt he would have played a full part in the NAB Cup anyway and you don't really want to see your most valuable player risking injury by getting bashed around in too many pre-season games.

I agree with Kildonan that it also gives us a chance to try some different forward line structures that don't revolve around Riewoldt. We were far too reliant on him last season so it should do us good to try some different options.

I'd like to see young forwards like Lynch and McEvoy given a go in the key positions. Maybe also see guys like Goddard and Fisher thrown up forward as well.

 

[dg102]

Its a shame he's going to have an interupted pre season. Lets hope he gets better quick. We all know how dangerous he is when he's fully fit. I think we have a no risk to injury policy now. Even if it takes 4 weeks into the proper to get him 100% fit, its worth it not to play him.

 

[AFLOnline]

Sounds like he was only at about 60% fitness from what you say AFL Online ha

I have no idea how you got that from what I said, but sure, we'll go with 60% just for you.

 

[Modra93]

It was a joke.. I was saying he still managed to kick all those goals despite a 60% fitness level as opposed to the 100% you suggested.. I was suggesting what an excellent player he is..

 

[Barnzy123]

I hope a positive can come out of this for you guys with as a couple of you mentioned Kosi maybe standing up. He was one of my favourite players when he was up and going and dominating teams. Great to watch.

Nothing beat watching Harvs go round for many years though.

 

[bubblegoose]

Yeah, the positives are that it happened now before the season proper & opportunity to try different forward line setups.

 

[Persevering Saint]

I hope a positive can come out of this for you guys with as a couple of you mentioned Kosi maybe standing up. He was one of my favourite players when he was up and going and dominating teams. Great to watch.

Nothing beat watching Harvs go round for many years though.

Yeah, I liked those couple of games of Kosi's too...

 

[Plugger35]

Yeah, I liked those couple of games of Kosi's too...

I know that's probably a slight exaggeration but Kosi's good games have definitely been too few and far between recently. With Riewoldt out, normally you would expect Kosi to be the 'go to' man but it's hard to have much faith in him after his recent performances.

Hopefully Riewoldt's absence can spur Kosi on to greater heights in the NAB Cup and he can go on to have a great season. No doubt he still has the ability but you have to question his commitment and work rate at times.

 

[StFly]

I know that's probably a slight exaggeration but Kosi's good games have definitely been too few and far between recently. With Riewoldt out, normally you would expect Kosi to be the 'go to' man but it's hard to have much faith in him after his recent performances.

Hopefully Riewoldt's absence can spur Kosi on to greater heights in the NAB Cup and he can go on to have a great season. No doubt he still has the ability but you have to question his commitment and work rate at times.

I think part of the problem has been the whole self sustaining injury and forward planning of "friendly fire wins matches!" so by all accounts it should be better for Kosi to step up and be counted not only when Rooey is out, but also play his part when Rooey is playing and that he can feel confident he's not going to beat the snot out of his teammates.

 

[Plugger35]

I think part of the problem has been the whole self sustaining injury and forward planning of "friendly fire wins matches!" so by all accounts it should be better for Kosi to step up and be counted not only when Rooey is out, but also play his part when Rooey is playing and that he can feel confident he's not going to beat the snot out of his teammates.

Kosi does seem to work better when he is the sole key forward target. When he plays alongside someone like Riewoldt, he always seems to get in their way.

You would put your money on it being more Kosi's fault than Riewoldt's too.

 

[Ice-Wolf]

Kosi does seem to work better when he is the sole key forward target. When he plays alongside someone like Riewoldt, he always seems to get in their way.

You would put your money on it being more Kosi's fault than Riewoldt's too.

I say they get in each others way, how many times last year did we see Kosi take a mark or almost take it only for Riewoldt to ram straight into him. I think neither of them are good at working with others leads. Both need to learn to lead into different spots.

 

[cartwright]

This is the worst possible result for us.
Our most important player will be underdone for the start of the season and won't come good until the second half of the season.
Looks like it will be the usual story of making a late charge for the finals after an average start to the season.
I was hoping that for once we could actually have had everyone fit and we could win early games to take the pressure off of everyone

My first reaction was "here we go again ... injuries"

The only positive is that it is now, and not during the season proper. Also, that it'll actually be fixed (a few seasons ago it most likely wouldn't have been).

True, Roo is our most important player - the fact is, we rely on him waaay too much down forward. I'm looking forward to seeing alternatives down there.

 

[Squizz]

A good test of the forward line tactics post JB era (i.e. when they were non existent).

Looking forward to seeing BJ and Sam F up forward (even if others aren't) and also Macca might get his chance.

 

[cartwright]

He's at Hawks now isn't he?
THAT should be interesting.

 

[Modra93]

This really would be an ideal chance for Allen...his injury really hurts our depth with our lack of young key forwards