Tom Rockliff says he is starting to think about just what impact the injuries he has had over his footy career will have on his body when he finishes playing
Tom Rockliff is starting to think more about just what impacts the injuries he has suffered on the field will have on his body when he finishes footy.
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Tom Rockliff is starting to think more about just what impacts the injuries he has suffered on the field will have on his body when he finishes footy.
The gun Port Adelaide midfielder has required three shoulder reconstructions in two years, the most recent being in September.
That was the complex Latarjet-Bristow procedure, which involves a piece of bone being taken from one part of his shoulder and attached to the front of the shoulder socket.
On The Lowdown podcast Rockliff said the shoulder was feeling the best it had in years, but the surgery had resulted in him losing a little bit of range in the area.
He said he had begun to think about how his body might be impacted by all of his injuries when he finishes his career.
“As you start to get older in your career you start to feel things (aches and pains in your body),” he said.
“I probably worry about that a bit more with my shoulder, worry if I can get in the backyard and bowl a ball to (son) Jack and play cricket and with the back can I bend over.”
Rockliff also said he had put his body “through the ringer” on multiple occasions.
“I’ve always had the thought of we will worry about that once my career is over I’ll worry about the other stuff and looking back you probably should be a bit more worried about it,” he said.
This included only missing two weeks with broken ribs and a punctured lung as Brisbane captain in 2015 only to be knocked out by the Gold Coast’s Stephen May in his first game back.
After a couple of games Rockliff then broke his ribs again.
“There’s no doubt as players we always push the envelope and want to get back as quick as we can,” he said.
“And there’s no doubt the medical team do that as well, they have your best interests at heart and they probably pull you back a little bit.
“But you are always looking for ways to push, push and get back as a player.”
Rockliff also revealed that he still has issues with the leg he broke as a 16-year-old, which required subsequent operations at 17 and 18 because of complications.
“It still is restricted with the range of movement,” he said.
“You do a knee to wall test and it is 5cm down on the other ankle so there is no doubt there are restrictions there.
“You learn to live with it and alter some of the stuff you do.”