Comeback 'King’ Matt Panos to complete fairytale comeback in SANFL grand final

Norwood legend Matt Panos will complete a fairytale – and miraculous – comeback from a career-threatening knee injury and play in Sunday’s SANFL grand final against Glenelg.

Norwood legend Matt Panos will complete a fairytale – and miraculous – comeback from a career-threatening knee injury and play in Sunday’s SANFL grand final against Glenelg.

The Redlegs’ 2022 grand final hero will line up for his 150th SANFL game on the big stage after convincing coach Jade Rawlings at training during the week that he is fit enough to fire in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a grand final.

Rawlings told his players at training at The Parade on Thursday that 33-year-old Panos had made Norwood’s final 22, despite playing only one game (in the reserves second semi-final two weeks ago) in five months after he partially tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee against Port Adelaide in Round 4 on April 27.

“We as a coaching group could not be happier with how Matt has gone about his recovery,” Rawlings told the club website.

Norwood’s Matt Panos is a shock inclusion for Sunday’s SANFL grand final against Glenelg. Picture: David Mariuz/SANFL

“A lot of work has gone into his recovery and return to play. We set some strong parameters from a training and playing perspective and he is ready to go.

“I have been impressed and proud of his efforts in 2024.”

Panos, dubbed “The King” at The Parade, where he holds legendary status, has overcome long odds to play in the grand final.

Rather than have the traditional knee reconstruction when he shredded his knee against Port, which would have meant a year on the sidelines, he opted for revolutionary treatment in a bold bid to play again this year.

After consulting medical experts, Panos decided to let the ligaments heal naturally under a new “Cross Bracing Protocol’’.

The revolutionary CBP involves immobilising the patient’s knee in a brace set at a fixed angle of 90 degrees for four weeks following an ACL injury.

Panos has also tried other remedies to help with the healing process, such as consuming bone broth – a liquid made from boiling animal bones and connective tissue, which helps reduce inflammation.

Matt Panos celebrates his match-winning goal for Norwood in the 2022 SANFL grand final against North Adelaide. Picture: Cory Sutton/SANFL

The unusual treatment and his extraordinary will power and detail to recovery have paid big dividends, with Panos now set to take his place in Norwood’s grand final team.

“There were some unusual sorts of remedies that people set up to help me heal quickly and a lot of time and energy has been put into getting back this year, to chase that dream of another premiership,’’ he said.

“I’m pretty grateful to be playing.’’

Panos, who had previously had his right knee reconstructed, is a noted big-game performer.

Chasing his third premiership, the forward/midfielder won the Jack Oatey Medal as best afield in the Redlegs’ 2014 grand final win against Port.

Two years ago he etched his name into SANFL folklore by kicking the matchwinning goal in the dying stages of the grand final against North Adelaide, which Norwood won by one point, just four months after making his comeback from a shattered right knee.

Sunday’s grand final will be just his second game in 148 days.

Originally published as Comeback 'King’ Matt Panos to complete fairytale comeback in SANFL grand final