Warning for Rance on finals attempt
MEDICOS have warned Alex Rance would face the massive risk of a second ACL rupture if he attempted a dramatic finals return from his knee injury.
Tyson Goldsack’s unbelievable return from an ACL rupture last year had medical experts marvelling at how he was able to buck convention and return to the sport within months. Goldsack had his operation on March 22 but returned to play all four finals for the Pies after weeks of full training and a VFL return.
Western Bulldog Dale Morris also made a miracle return from a frayed ACL last year, able to get back in Round 11 from a pre-season injury.
But respected sports medico Peter Larkins said both players took significant risks to get back within a season in what they believed was the last year of their careers.
Knee surgeon David Young, who consulted with Morris, said a level of secondary trauma was critical if Rance was to attempt an in-season recovery.
Rance has only just signed a two-year extension through to 2021 and is the centrepiece of Richmond’s premiership plans for the short-term future.
Larkins said Rance would be out for the season if he conducted the traditional ACL recovery using a hamstring tendon to repair the ACL.
“Goldsack got away with it last year, but he was the exception because he wasn’t sure he would play again in 2018. Dale Morris is not the example of what happens normally because he had a tear in the ACL in a certain part which was loose but not completely torn.
“Goldsack changed perspectives last year because he basically said ‘I will take the chance at six months, the graft has only halfway healed’. It was a roll-of-the-dice decision.
“He passed tests around swelling and strength but it’s not a benchmark for other players to use in 2019 even if it puts pressure on other clubs when Goldsack does it.
“He went in with his eyes wide open knowing the chances he would tear the graft were quite high. We won’t see the pendulum shift backward because otherwise we are back in the realm of the David Schwarz era.”
Schwarz returned within 11 weeks from a February 1995 ACL tear, ruptured it again in his second game back, and had a third reconstruction within that season.
Knee surgeon Young stressed he couldn’t comment on Rance specifically, but said one factor was crucial.
“What’s key to it, more than anything else, is the secondary trauma. What else has he done to the knee besides the cruciate?’’ he said.
“Secondary trauma … that’s what’s key to how quickly he gets back. Has he got bruised bones? Has he torn his meniscus? There’s a 65 per cent chance that he will have significant collateral damage, as we call it.”