St Kilda defender Dylan Roberton to miss at least a fortnight as tests continue over on-field collapse
ST KILDA defender Dylan Roberton says his frightening on-field collapse was “a bit of a scare” and while his club continues to monitor him, he hopes to return to training next week.
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ST KILDA defender Dylan Roberton’s immediate playing future remains unclear as medical experts continue their search for the cause of his dramatic on-field collapse against Geelong on Sunday.
Roberton was on Monday released from Geelong’s Epworth Hospital after 24 hours of observation and tests.
“This week I’m ruled out just as a precaution. I’ll do all the testing and then hopefully I’ll be back on the track next week,” Roberton said.
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“It was a bit of a scare, probably more so for family and friends. I was fine straight away.”
He said he doesn’t remember a whole lot about the incident.
“I just remember watching the ball go up and getting dizzy but that’s about it,” he said.
Saints doctors still believe — but are not certain — that an irregular heartbeat may have been to blame for the 26-year-old’s scary second-quarter collapse, which came as he was slowly jogging alone 30m off the ball.
Roberton reported “dizziness and a blackout” after the incident but was able to walk from the field and was alert and eating on Sunday night as he was visited in hospital by coach Alan Richardson and wife Amy among others.
Coach Alan Richardson said the Saints would take “absolutely no risk” with Roberton’s return to football, describing the scare as a “distressing moment for everyone”.
“I’d imagine that will take a while, that’s what we’ve been told. There’ll be absolutely no risk. We’ll give the doctors and medicos every opportunity to make the right call,” Richardson told Fox Footy on Monday night.
St Kilda football manager Simon Lethlean said Roberton would be on resting duties for at least the next week, with further tests to determine his immediate football future.
However, the Saints hope the incident will prove to be a “one-off”, with no historical heart problems and Roberton reporting no other significant health issues in recent twice-weekly player wellbeing surveys.
“There’s a number of tests to take as standard procedure for any heart related issues that will take 1-2 weeks. We’ll monitor those results closely,” Lethlean said.
Update: In some happy news, Dylan Roberton will be heading home from hospital this afternoon.
— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) April 16, 2018
“Those results will dictate where he goes thereafter. There will be no exercise in the meantime.
“He’s played every game so far this year and he’s been playing well, fit and healthy. So there’s been no signs that this was coming.”
Roberton, who finished second behind Seb Ross in the Saints’ best-and-fairest last year, has a four-year contract with the club ending in 2021.
The 194cm defender had averaged 20 disposals and seven marks across the opening three rounds of the season.
The Saints meet Greater Western Sydney at Etihad Stadium on Saturday where they will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak.
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