Josh Jenkins has revealed he expects to play an important role in the back half of the Crows season as his knee heals well
Crows key forward Josh Jenkins has revealed he could be back playing football sooner than originally thought after injuring his knee.
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Talk about a turnaround.
Less than a week ago, Crows’s key forward Josh Jenkins was being carted from Adelaide Oval with a suspected serious knee injury after kicking four instrumental goals in his side’s win over Richmond.
But he’s revealed that he could be back as soon as round 17’s clash against the Gold Coast on July 13.
“That (initial diagnosis of) four-to-six weeks was a first number that was mentioned, but the more I walk around and start to feel good, the more I think perhaps that four weeks is a little bit over,” Jenkins told Foxtel’s AFL 360 on Tuesday night.
“First thoughts were that it was quite severe and it looked a bit ugly.
“I’ve been able to suck it up and watch the replay a few times and it doesn’t look great, everything is pointing to a pretty speedy recovery.”
As his knee buckled underneath him during last week’s 33-point win over Richmond, it seemed a cruel blow to Jenkins, whose 2019 season has been clouded by being dropped and spending time in the SANFL fighting to win his spot back.
But he’s philosophical about it all and admits that he’s not taking the setback as badly as he might if this injury had occurred in his first game back in the seniors.
“If I hadn’t been able to get back and prove I still had something to offer at AFL level, I think I would have been pretty rattled,” Jenkins said.
“But I was able to get back and play three almost full games and play quite well and build each week, and last Thursday night was obviously my best performance of the season.
“So if I hadn’t been able to get back to that point, I would have been pretty flat and not too sure where to turn to, but I take some solace from the fact I was able to get back to the level, play really well and that’s what I’ve got to do again: rest up, heal up and make the same charge I did just a month ago.”
Jenkins said he expected to be able to play in the back half of the season.
“The knee’s another little setback, but I have no doubt I can still contribute to the last six-to-eight games,” he said.
If he is to play in the Crows last eight games of the season, that could see him back to face Port Adelaide in the Showdown on July 6.
“The pleasing aspect is, I was able to work out what I needed to work out (in the SANFL), get better at a few things and physically improve because I was certainly being held back a fair bit by my foot.
“That sort of gets me to where I am now.”
Jenkins also addressed his controversial comments following his dropping, where he said he was “dirty”.
“I was voted into our senior leadership group this year because I’m honest and I’m pretty authentic and I tell it how it is and sometimes I probably go too far and there’s other times where I need to accept someone else’s decision,” he said.
“Anyone with a little bit of competitiveness thinks they’ve still got something to offer, they’re going to fight for their spot and at least raise their argument … I said I was really dirty and I copped a lot of flack for saying that, but I was dirty at myself, I wasn’t dirty at anyone else.
“The selection committee picks what they think is the best team to win that game each week and they don’t leave people out because they want to make someone’s life hard.
“They leave them out because they don’t think they can help the team win.
“I was dirty at myself … (but) then I was able to get my stuff together, get my foot right and get back in the side, so it’s all part and parcel of professional sport and if it was easy, we’d all do it.”
He said what he’s learnt about himself this season so far is that he is filled with resilience.
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