Grant's season may be over
6:36:38 PM Sun 30 March, 2003
Western Bulldogs skipper Chris Grant is expected to miss the rest of the season, after suffering a knee injury in the Dogs’ first round win over Geelong at Telstra Dome.
The 30-year-old, who was playing his 274th AFL game, injured his right knee – almost certainly the anterior cruciate ligament - just before three quarter-time, sparking immediate fears his season was over.
Although the prognosis has yet to be determined, Rohde hinted that Grant was unlikely to play again in 2003, despite being optimistic that he could return in the latter part of the season.
“Obviously, the negative (from the win) is the skipper and his condition, but obviously we’re probably not expecting really good news there, but we’ll get all that checked out tomorrow and see how we go from there. But that certainly puts a dampener to a certain degree on the victory,” Rohde said.
Asked if it was Grant’s anterior cruciate ligament, Rohde said: “We suspect that maybe the case, but with all these sorts of things, you always need to look at it in the cool light of day and get him tested tomorrow, but our medical people are pretty experienced in these sorts of things. I think it’s fair to say, we have grave concerns.”
“I thought he was actually holding his ankle when he first did it, but at three quarter-time I came over and he gave me the news.”
But the new Bulldogs coach also noted that it would provide several players with a chance to stand up and be counted.
“There’s no doubt that he’s a pretty good player and he was playing pretty well today and we’ll certainly miss any player that isn’t available for us,” Rohde said.
“Probably one thing we talked about a hell-of-a-lot through the pre-season is that we want 22 contributors every week and we don’t want to rely on any one player.”
Rohde also indicated that Grant’s injury was a blow to the playing group, but added that it was a timely reminder for the players to make the most of their opportunities during their career.
“The psychology side of it is another issue and he’s obviously very highly regarded within the playing group and within the club. There’s no doubt that we’re all feeling for him at the moment, because he’s had a very big pre-season and he was very determined to have a good 2003 season and it just proves that it’s a very fickle world,” Rohde said.
“I suppose it puts the whole thing in perspective in lots of ways doesn’t it?”
Rohde said it was hard to console Grant after the match, but added that the dual Bulldogs best and fairest winner was level-headed about the situation.
“Look, there’s not a lot I could say. He was obviously pretty down and he was hoping like crazy that his teammates were going to the right thing by him and win the game for him,” Rohde said.
6:36:38 PM Sun 30 March, 2003
Western Bulldogs skipper Chris Grant is expected to miss the rest of the season, after suffering a knee injury in the Dogs’ first round win over Geelong at Telstra Dome.
The 30-year-old, who was playing his 274th AFL game, injured his right knee – almost certainly the anterior cruciate ligament - just before three quarter-time, sparking immediate fears his season was over.
Although the prognosis has yet to be determined, Rohde hinted that Grant was unlikely to play again in 2003, despite being optimistic that he could return in the latter part of the season.
“Obviously, the negative (from the win) is the skipper and his condition, but obviously we’re probably not expecting really good news there, but we’ll get all that checked out tomorrow and see how we go from there. But that certainly puts a dampener to a certain degree on the victory,” Rohde said.
Asked if it was Grant’s anterior cruciate ligament, Rohde said: “We suspect that maybe the case, but with all these sorts of things, you always need to look at it in the cool light of day and get him tested tomorrow, but our medical people are pretty experienced in these sorts of things. I think it’s fair to say, we have grave concerns.”
“I thought he was actually holding his ankle when he first did it, but at three quarter-time I came over and he gave me the news.”
But the new Bulldogs coach also noted that it would provide several players with a chance to stand up and be counted.
“There’s no doubt that he’s a pretty good player and he was playing pretty well today and we’ll certainly miss any player that isn’t available for us,” Rohde said.
“Probably one thing we talked about a hell-of-a-lot through the pre-season is that we want 22 contributors every week and we don’t want to rely on any one player.”
Rohde also indicated that Grant’s injury was a blow to the playing group, but added that it was a timely reminder for the players to make the most of their opportunities during their career.
“The psychology side of it is another issue and he’s obviously very highly regarded within the playing group and within the club. There’s no doubt that we’re all feeling for him at the moment, because he’s had a very big pre-season and he was very determined to have a good 2003 season and it just proves that it’s a very fickle world,” Rohde said.
“I suppose it puts the whole thing in perspective in lots of ways doesn’t it?”
Rohde said it was hard to console Grant after the match, but added that the dual Bulldogs best and fairest winner was level-headed about the situation.
“Look, there’s not a lot I could say. He was obviously pretty down and he was hoping like crazy that his teammates were going to the right thing by him and win the game for him,” Rohde said.
