Heslop shoulders the pain
MOST potential recruits are anxious in the lead-up to a national draft but for Gold Coast player Dee Heslop the added bearing of a shoulder injury threatened to bring her dream crumbling down.
Heslop, 18, looked destined to join the Suns’ AFLW list after thriving in the club’s academy program, representing Queensland at under-18 level for three straight years and being part of the 2018 AFLW academy team.
But a shoulder injury suffered while preparing for the under-18 national championships in June and the delayed surgery that followed had Heslop, eventually taken with pick 69 of the draft, fearing 2019 may end in disaster.
“I went to tackle someone and my shoulder went out the wrong way,” Heslop said.
“We had a few problems with it and then got a few tests done and everything was clear,
“I didn’t get an MRI at that stage and then I had to get a few medicals done before the (AFLW draft) combine (in September) and they were like, ‘we will throw in an MRI to see how it’s going’.
“They ended up they saying I needed surgery. My first thought was the draft straight away because it was only a few months out from it. I was still really worried about what (the Suns’) opinion was and that’s why we had to sort out a plan.
“If I wasn’t able to play through the season then they weren’t going to pick me up, which was fair enough.
“I needed to see what we could do so I was really lucky I’m going to be back in time.”
The injury also forced Heslop out of the national combine in September where players had the chance to put their skills on show in front of all the clubs.
The 2020 AFLW season starts in February and that is when Heslop hopes to be back playing.