Scans confirm rebounding Crows defender Brodie Smith has ACL damage to his right knee
ADELAIDE Crows defender Brodie Smith has had the worst confirmed — his right knee does have serious damage to the anterior cruciate ligament.
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BRODIE Smith’s season is over — and the rebounding Crows defender will spend 12 months on the sidelines after having his right knee rebuilt.
Scans have confirmed the anterior cruciate ligament was ruptured when Smith, 25, twisted towards a tackle in the 10th minute of Adelaide’s 36-point win against Greater Western Sydney in the AFL qualifying final at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.
Smith is now to dedicate his work around the clubhouse to helping his team-mates end Adelaide’ 19-year premiership drought.
“I’ll try to stay positive, crack a few gags, get the energy up,” Smith said.
“I’ve really tried to work on my leadership this year, so I’ve done a lot of work in terms of meetings and things like that. I’ll work with (defence coach James Podsiadly) ‘Podsy’ and almost try to be an assistant coach to him for the next three weeks.
“(I’ll also) just try to give tips where I can and work with ‘Lairdy’ (Rory Laird) and ‘Browny’ (Luke Brown) and Jake Kelly, who play similar roles.”
Smith was hoping for some good news from the scans on Friday.
“The scans showed the worst, unfortunately, so I’ve got the (anterior cruciate ligament) tear with a bit of bone bruising and some other stuff as well, so did a good job of it,” Smith said.
“The doctors were pretty confident I’d done it (an ACL) straight away, so I guess I prepared myself for the worst, but held onto a little bit of hope that it’d be okay.
“It is what it is and I just look forward now to the next three weeks and trying to help my teammates in whatever way I can to get the ultimate success.”
Smith’s long-term injury puts Curtly Hampton and Paul Seedsman on the whiteboard at West Lakes for coach Don Pyke to consider for the critical role and run and rebound from Adelaide’s back half.
Thankyou 🙌🼠#WeFlyAsOne pic.twitter.com/ftXQyZlN2C
— Brodie smith (@Brodiesmith33) 7 September 2017
Crows football chief Brett Burton confirmed the worst with Smith on Friday morning as Adelaide prepares for its first home preliminary final since 2006.
“The injury is really disappointing for both Brodie and the club as we start our finals campaign,” Burton said.
“We will consult a specialist this week with the view to Brodie having surgery which will unfortunately rule him out for the season.
“Brodie will still be an important part of the group as we continue through September.”
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au
Originally published as Scans confirm rebounding Crows defender Brodie Smith has ACL damage to his right knee
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