AFL 2023: Sydney Swans co-captain Callum Mills injures shoulder in Mad Monday accident

A wrestle with a teammate at a Surry Hills pub has proved disastrous for Callum Mills and the Swans with the Sydney co-captain set to spend a long period on the sidelines.

Callum Mills of the Swans. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Sydney co-captain Callum Mills will miss half of the 2024 season after rupturing his rotator cuff during Mad Monday celebrations.

Mills, 26, was wrestling with teammate Jacob Konstanty at a Surry Hills pub when the incident occurred. Konstanty, 18, is in his first year on the Swans’ list and made his name through junior footy for his physicality and tackling ability.

At the time, Mills thought nothing of it and the seriousness of the injury wasn’t clear. Even fellow teammates weren’t aware an incident had occurred. It wasn’t until days later that it became clear how much damage he had done.

Scans later revealed that he had ruptured his rotator cuff and completely torn it off the bone. He immediately went in for surgery to start the rehabilitation process as quickly as possible.

The expected recovery time for Mills is nine months but could potentially stretch out to a year.

Callum Mills will miss more than half the 2024 season after injuring his shoulder. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Dr. Peter Larkins said that due to the nature of the injury, Mills will miss the first half of the season but should return to 100 per cent by the second half of the year.

The injury is an unusual one for athletes with Larkins confirming that they are caused by overload or overstretching, as opposed to impact.

He also compared the recovery to that of an Achilles tendon injury which often takes more than a year to rehabilitate.

“When a person does it, they often don’t realise it,” Larkins said. “A few days can go by until they realise it’s a bad injury.

“Reports that he’s pulled it off the bone – that’s actually a good thing because you can attach it to the same place on the bone.

“In a tendon that’s repaired properly and quickly, they can repair quite well.

“He’ll be in a sling for six to eight weeks. It’s a long time before any lifting on it as you allow the tendon to reattach back onto the bone structure carefully. You then start movement, and then strength work after three months.”

Sydney has already expressed their disappointment in Mills that a leader of the club has found themselves in this position.

Callum Mills injured his shoulder in a pub wrestle with teammate Jacob Konstanty Picture: Phil Hillyard.

“Losing players to injury in the off-season is always disappointing,” Charlie Gardiner, the Swans’ manager of footy said.

“Callum is our captain and an important member of the squad. We are extremely disappointed this injury has occurred.

“Callum is equally disappointed, as you can imagine, but he is recovering well and will get to work on his rehabilitation immediately.”

It’s not the first time the Sydney co-captain has found himself caught up in a bizarre injury.

In 2018, he missed the second half of the season with a foot injury after tripping on a drain while mucking around with an American football after training.

Mills was walking around with teammates in the Moore Park precinct and the slight stumble saw him roll his foot and break his fifth metatarsal.

The 26-year-old also missed four games this season through a calf injury.

The Swans have been no stranger to freak accidents with fellow co-captain Dane Rampe tripping over a chain in Moore Park in 2017 and breaking his arm.