The injury-plagued Crows are given some good news ahead of the 2020 AFLW season: prized defender Deni Varnhagen has not torn her ACL
Finally there’s some good news inside the Crows camp: defender Deni Varnhagen has not torn her ACL, but will require surgery. Find out when she might be back playing for the reigning champs.
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When Crows defender Deni Varnhagen fell to the ground clutching her left knee during a trial game against Fremantle on Saturday, the Adelaide Football Club held its collective breath: Please, surely not another torn anterior cruciate ligament for its AFLW side.
A Dockers player had fallen across Varnhagen’s leg during a contest and she needed to be helped from the oval, left to watch the remainder of Adelaide’s 17-point win from the sidelines.
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It didn’t look good and with the club having suffered through five devastating torn ACLs to key players in the past year, another wreaked knee was the last thing the Crows needed as they mount their 2020 premiership defence.
Finally, it’s good news.
Varnhagen, 27, underwent scans on Tuesday morning and was told she’d escaped serious injury.
But she will require surgery.
Crows general manager of football administration Phil Harper said that while Varnhagen doesn’t have ligament damage, the two-time premiership player will undergo surgery on Wednesday.
“The good news is that all Deni’s knee ligaments are intact,” Harper said.
“But she has some significant cartilage damage that will require arthroscope surgery on Wednesday morning.
“Deni could be playing again in three to six weeks.”
Best case scenario, Varnhagen – 2019’s Crows’ best defensive player – will be back for her side’s Round Three’s clash against last season’s preliminary finalists Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Sunday, February 23.
The Crows open their premiership defence against Brisbane at Queensland’s Hickey Park on Saturday, February 8.