Knee reco -what it really means

One minute you're only a training session or two away from being ready foe league football after an ankle operation and a long rehab. You're feeling better and fitter than you have for a long time.

The next moment it all changes.

We read that a player has 'done his knee' and know he'll be out of football for a long time. We know he'll have to go through a long rehab process.

Talking Footy SA will take you through that process with Andrew Hayes, starting this week. Andrew will share his progress, the ups and downs and answer questions and talk with our posters about that and any other questions about his career with Central, the Magpies and West.

It's a hugely cruel blow for the lads. Happened to young Steve Baldasso at Norwood, and by all accounts he'd had enough interest shown from AFL clubs that he quit his apprenticeship to put everything into having a good season, only to do his ACL 3 weeks out from Round 1.

Yes, Scrunch, I've long thought it would be good for fans to know just how much it affects players. I sympathise with Steve Baldasso and any player who has to go through such an injury.

It often not only affects their football, but often they need a sympathetic employer also.

I'm looking forward to following Andrew Hayes and his recovery and his thoughts as we go along with him.

If any poster has a link to a willing player from any club with an interesting topic, please fel free to contact Admin by PM.

Lee wrote:Yes, Scrunch, I've long thought it would be good for fans to know just how much it affects players. I sympathise with Steve Baldasso and any player who has to go through such an injury.

It often not only affects their football, but often they need a sympathetic employer also.

I'm looking forward to following Andrew Hayes and his recovery and his thoughts as we go along with him.

Absolutely. I'm sure we've all encountered a lot of opposition players we don't like over the years, and whilst we might be happy to see them get flattened, you never wish injury on any player. SANFL players make such huge sacrifices as it is, for them to then have their work and personal life interfered with by the likes of rehab and downtime is just so cruel. I hope Andrews recovery works out as well as it can for him.

In what must be very trying circumstances it will be very interesting to follow the journal, lets call it, of Hayes.

Andrew, we wish you all the best in your recovery and thank you for taking us on this journey with you.

Have gone through a knee reconstruction myself (a bad one - completely snapped by ACL and a 5cm tear in my medial, also) a couple of yearss ago...

Conceding it was the end of my social basketball career and stamping out the possibility of a comeback to local footy, I got a little disgruntled and stopped doing the rehab after a couple of months...

That was the biggest regret I have had in my life, to date, as I am now suffering the consequences of that (and will probably do so for the rest of my life) with continual pain and locking up of the knee...

I wish Haysey all the best in the recovery and I too look forward to tracking his recovery...