I think I heard Peter Burge say before Christmas that Daniel was going to have another operation to remove the plate so it does not appear to be a deviation from their plan, (it's just I thought it had been done earlier).
It's true that the majority of lay people would leave plate in, however removing it provides better foot movement and less pain as screws and plate being very close to the surface. Given the nature of our game removing it probably gives Daniel the best chance of getting back to his physical and mobile best.
A significant injury this one, it ended Dane Swans career, but Daniel has youth on his side.
Attached below is a short medical summary on plate removal:
https://www.anklefootmd.com/removing-hardware-foot-surgery/
And for those that want to read more about lisfranc surgery as a whole:
http://www.sportsmd.com/sports-injuries/foot-ankle-injuries/lisfranc-injury/
"What happens after surgery on the Lisfranc joint?
Postoperatively following a typical Lisfranc joint repair, the patient must be non-weightbearing on the operative foot. This period of restricted weight-bearing and relative immobilization is typically 6-8 weeks. Subsequently, the amount of weight-bearing allowed is gradually increased over the next few weeks. Physical therapy is initiated and sports-specific training is begun. At some point, once the torn ligaments have been given sufficient time to heal, the screws used to fix the Lisfranc injury are removed as a minor operative procedure. This again allows normal motion and function to take place in the athlete’s midfoot region. It also avoids breaking of the screws by a repetitive fatigue mechanism with impact loading that occurs during weight-bearing on the repaired foot. Although the actual timing is somewhat controversial, this usually occurs somewhere between 3 and 6 months after the first operation takes place".
"Lisfranc Injury Recovery Time?
Stable Lisfranc injuries that do not require surgery may cause an athlete to miss 2 months or more of their season. However, most athletes are able to successfully return at some point. Those injuries that are unstable, and require surgical repair, are serious injuries that almost always cause the injured athlete to miss the remainder of their season. It is also not uncommon for a high level athlete to not be able to return to the same level of athletic performance even in following seasons. Two well-known examples are Eric Rhett and Duce Staley both of whom had surgery for a serious Lisfranc injury and never successfully returned to their pre-injury form"
