Matthew Suckling injured his knee in this contest during today's NAB Cup match against Richmond. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
Matthew Suckling injured his knee in this contest during today's NAB Cup match against Richmond. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
HAWTHORN defender Matthew Suckling's season is over with the superboot opting for a traditional knee reconstruction to repair his torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Hawks footy manager Mark Evans today confirmed the injury following scans on the 24-year-old rebounding defender's knee.
"It's obviously a devastating thing to happen to Matt on the eve of the season, but his attitude will be to throw himself into his rehab program and come back a stronger player from this,'' Evans told the club's website.
Coach Alastair Clarkson's dislike for the NAB Cup grew deeper yesterday when Suckling left Aurora Stadium on crutches and seems destined for a season-ending knee reconstruction.
The Hawks' coach, who has labelled the AFL's preseason competition as a TV gimmick and nightmare for coaches, resigned himself to the fact that Suckling's year is over.
Statistically Hawthorn's best rebounding defender last season, Suckling spent the NAB Cup making his case for a spot further upfield with the departure of hard-running Hawk Clinton Young to Collingwood.
Suckling's knee gave way while he was evading a tackle from Richmond defender Troy Chaplin at the seven minute mark of the third quarter of their one-point NAB Cup loss to Richmond in Launceston yesterday.
Click for breaking news and match day coverage
"We've had five knee reconstructions in the past 12 months and that's the brutal nature of the game."
The Hawks coach is already dirty on the AFL for announcing its plan the slash interchange rotations from a league average of 130 per game to a cap of 80 next year.
"Once again, it (Suckling's injury) focuses on how important it is for us all to give serious consideration to the demands of this game on our players," Clarkson said.
"It's a very demanding game, in my view the most difficult ball sport to play in the world.
"We need to be especially mindful of the loads on our players."
The preseason competition, Clarkson said, was the most dangerous time for players.
"Most knee reconstructions happen either in the NAB Cup series or the first five or six rounds of the season," he said.
"We'll get the occasional one after their bodies are hardened and are match-conditioned.
"But this is a real precarious time for the players and unfortunately you're going to lose someone along the way and unfortunately we lost Suckling today.
"That's disappointing, but we'll have to replace him with another bloke and forge on."
Matthew Suckling injured his knee in this contest during today's NAB Cup match against Richmond. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images
Hawthorn lost its fourth consecutive NAB Cup match yesterday, going down to the Tigers, who won 0.13..7 (85) to 0.13.6 (84).
Clarkson took solace from the loss,
"They (Richmond) looked to be in control of the contest but we hung in there and that was really pleasing," he said.
"We've played a lot of our young players over the series.
"Interestingly, us and Sydney sit on the bottom of the NAB Cup ladder.
"It's all because our preparations are a lot different to a lot of the sides.
"All four sides we played (Gold Coast, Brisbane, Bulldogs and Tigers) didn't play finals last year so they've had longer campaigns than us.
"We'll get our side a lot more stable over the next few weeks leading into the Geelong game in round one."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Suckling to undergo knee reco
Dengan url
https://suarabloggerlover.blogspot.com/2013/03/suckling-to-undergo-knee-reco.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Suckling to undergo knee reco
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar