SAV’S HIGH HOPES
Running in six weeks. Training in 10. Ratugolea’s mission to play again this year
INJURED Cat Esava Ratugolea is not giving up hope of a late-season return as he starts his recovery from a shocking ankle break.
Ratugolea said doctors were optimistic he would be out of his cast by next week and, barring any mishaps, could be back jogging in six weeks and training in 10 weeks.
That would give him an outside chance of being a finals x-factor for the Cats, should they qualify.
Ratugolea fractured his fibula and cracked his tibia in the sickening marking contest early in the second quarter of Saturday night’s win over Carlton.
The 19-year-old rising star was released from hospital on Tuesday night and yesterday returned to his family home in Cobram where he will spend the next week recovering.
“The surgery went well. Next week I will go back to Melbourne and have a chat to the surgeon,” Ratugolea said.
“He reckons … I will be in a moon boot by next week, I’ll be out of this cast. That’s pretty positive for me, it’s a lot sooner than I thought I would be out of this cast.
“Hopefully I will get moving on my feet and jogging a bit by six weeks. I want to be training by 10 weeks.
“I’m looking forward to that (running) already. I hate just sitting around doing nothing. If I do everything I can do and everything goes my way, then I reckon I will be able to play (again) this season. But it’s really early to say that; I need to get out of this cast and see how it all heals up.
“We are just keeping that option (of playing) open at the moment.”
The Cats are likely to take an ultra-cautious approach with Ratugolea’s recovery, with the key forward marked down as a crucial player for the future.
“The doctors and surgeons told me it could have been a lot worse, it looked a lot worse,” he said.
Ratugolea has seen the footage “once or twice”, but said it is not something he wants to relive.
“I told a few people this already, as soon as I did it I knew it was serious,” Ratugolea said.
“I thought to myself, ‘jeez, how long will this put me our for?’ It was a hollow moment.
“It didn’t look like I was out on the field for that long, but just laying there felt like I was there for way too long and I just wanted to get off the field.
“I was in a lot of pain and a lot of discomfort.
“They put a plate on my fibula on the fracture and about six screws in that bone and a screw in my tibia where the crack is.
“In the incident I pretty much dislocated my ankle and when I did that it chipped my tibia as it fractured my fibula.”
Ratugolea said he had been overwhelmed by messages of support from fans and the AFL community, including stars from opposition clubs.
“A lot of people have shown me a lot of support with messages, phone calls and people coming over to my house. I’m feeling pretty good, pretty positive,” he said.
“A few boys like Cyril Rioli and Majak Daw messaged me, ‘Nic Nat’ gave me a message on Instagram. (Goal umpire and fellow Fijian) David Rodan . . . guys like that (got in touch).
“Clayton Oliver is another who has shown me support. They’ve all been really good.”