SANFL: Woodville-West Torrens star Angus Rowntree to have surgery to repair injured knee

WOODVILLE-West Torrens’ gun midfielder Angus Rowntree is to have a second knee reconstruction after scans revealed he had ruptured the ACL.

SANFL - Second Semi-Final - Eagles v West Adelaide at Adelaide Oval. Angus Rowntree celebrates an early goal in the first quarter before getting injured and stretched off. Photo Sarah Reed.

Woodville-West Torrens’ gun midfielder Angus Rowntree is to have a second knee reconstruction after scans revealed he had ruptured the ACL.

Just hours after tests confirmed he would miss the grand final on September 27, Rowntree met with a specialist to book a date for the surgery.

It is the second premiership decider he will watch from the stands, having been sidelined with pneumonia when the Eagles triumphed in the 2011 grand final against Central District. The Magarey Medal runner-up also missed many months of action because of a serious knee injury in 2013.

Rowntree damaged his knee when attempting to kick a ball off the ground just 10 minutes into the second semi-final win over West Adelaide on Sunday.

Rowntree celebrating a first quarter goal earlier in the game. Photo: Sarah Reed.

The Eagles will also be without another midfielder Angus Poole, who faces a three-month recovery from a grade three medial ligament strain. Poole hurt his knee early in the third quarter against the Bloods.

Eagles coach Michael Godden has already been considering his options to come into the side and is likely to have finalised the 21 players to contest the grand final by this weekend.

“We have plenty of options and I’m confident with our depth,’’ Godden said.

The league and reserves sides are the first teams to have qualified for their grand finals and they will have a practise match on Saturday to compensate for a weekend free from games. It is the same procedure Godden adopted when they had a bye for the first weekend of the finals.

“There are some match ups we will look at but I may select the side before the weekend,’’ Godden said.

The Bloods have ruled Aaron Fielke and Logan Hill out of the preliminary final battle against the Bulldogs on Sunday. The pair was forced to leave the ground against the Eagles because of concussion and were taken to hospital for several hours.