The Western Bulldogs will put Tom Liberatore’s health first after he was medically cleared to return to training
Tom Liberatore has been cleared to return to training but everyone at the Western Bulldogs will be putting his health first before any playing comeback.
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Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says Tom Liberatore’s wellbeing will continue to take priority as he warns the champion midfielder is not “out of the woods” despite being cleared to return to training after his latest concussion.
Beveridge said the champion midfielder would work on his technique to help “mitigate” against potential head clashes as the Bulldogs plan his return in two to three weeks’ time.
Liberatore was on Monday given medical clearance to return to football after suffering his fourth concussion in 12 months in the Bulldogs’ loss to Hawthorn earlier this month.
His coach said the 32-year-old would soon return to main training after mostly being confined to running laps at Whitten Oval while experts deliberated over his playing future.
“There’s been a lot of time and commitment to making sure that Tom’s wellbeing is at the forefront of our thinking,” Beveridge said.
“He’s been training, so I think physically he’ll be OK – he’s able to do everything. We’ll introduce him into the main football drills prior to his return to play.
“If he’s comfortable, then he’ll come back into the team. I think we’ve said it’s two to three weeks: it’ll be one of those.”
Beveridge said he would be nervous for Liberatore when he returned, as well as other Bulldogs players in the wake of 19-year-old Aiden O’Driscoll’s medical retirement from the AFL a fortnight ago due to a concussion he suffered in January.
“It’s a challenge to talk about it, because it’s not like (Liberatore) is just out of the woods, he comes back and plays and everything’s OK,” he said.
“Each time anyone who’s never had a concussion goes for the footy in a collision-type situation, you hold your breath.
“Sometimes you even think, ‘don’t go for this one, happy for him to mark it’, whatever it may be, because you see the velocity, the commitment of the players and our guys have rarely pulled out of those (contests).
“With Tom when he comes back, there’ll still be that nervousness that he might cop another knock.
“I was talking to him this morning about technique and craft, and some situations where he’s been hit in the head, and what we can do to mitigate against it happening again.”
The Bulldogs, who have only won more than two games in a row twice since the 2021 finals series, had a chance to find a new level of consistency against top of the ladder Sydney on Thursday night, Beveridge said.
He said in-form midfielder Ed Richards could spend significant periods on Swans superstar Isaac Heeney due to his defensive abilities.
“I think when you consider (Richards) and probably Marcus (Bontempelli) is the other real aerialist through that midfield, we’ll need to make sure that as a team we cover Isaac, especially when he spreads forward,” he said.
“If he’s drifting forward, we need to make sure we’re ready to compete with him, and as you alluded to, Ed’s one who can do that.”
Originally published as The Western Bulldogs will put Tom Liberatore’s health first after he was medically cleared to return to training
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