How bad is Buddy’s knee?
If you tuned into the AFL Sydney Swans vs Melbourne Demons game on Saturday night you would have witnessed the scare to the Swans camp on as Lance Franklin hobbled to the bench following a seemingly innocuous marking contest with Melbourne's Tom McDonald. He could take no further part in the contest, and had to be substituted out of the game. Buddy's suspect right knee may well be haunting those Sydney powerbrokers who signed the 27-year-old to his 9 year $10m contract late last year
Buddy's knee history
Whilst a player of Buddy's size and style will invariably place significant loads on his knees, there have been a few specific incidents involving Buddy's right knee over his career. The most significant was a sickening hyperextension injury in the 2011 qualifying final against Geelong. He fortunately escaped ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) damage, but would have no doubt suffered significant damage to the surface cartilage in that knee. Franklin's right knee has had several more minor jarring incidents since, the most recent one occurring in the game against Adelaide three weeks ago.
How many games might he miss?
Whilst the Swans report there is no serious structural damage as a result of Saturday night, Franklin will no doubt need to undergo intensive physiotherapy this week in an effort to reduce his knee inflammation. The most likely scenario would be to miss the next three games and then resume in Round 11 after the Swans' bye.
The future
Incidents like these continue to deplete the already reduced surface cartilage in that right knee – in the normal population this is the precursor for a knee replacement in later life. From a football perspective, the challenge will be to keep him off his feet as much as possible between matches (the Swans have admitted that this is already happening), and yet maintain the strength of the muscles around his knee. One wonders whether this can be effectively done for a further 9 years….
Adrian Quinn – Principal Physiotherapist, Back In Motion Camberwell