Patience a virtue for Tiger AstburyBy Paul Daffey
Tue 20 Mar, 2012RICHMOND key defender David Astbury, stricken by a knee injury midway through last season, is starting to emerge from the fog of rehabilitation and hopes to return to the field about round six.
Astbury, 21, dislocated his knee against the Sydney Swans at the SCG in round 12 last year.
He had a reconstruction and an arthroscope only to suffer further soreness in mid-November.
The result was another arthroscope to clean out fragments of cartilage, and it's only now that he's able to run without feeling soreness.
"I can see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said on Tuesday.
"The knee is starting to loosen up and I'm feeling lot better."
Astbury was taken at No.35 in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft. He's since played 22 matches, mostly as a key defender.
In round three last year, Astbury and Dylan Grimes had massive jobs when, in the absence of more experienced defenders, they tried to nullify Hawthorn duo Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin.
It was like a rite of passage for the Richmond duo, who concentrated on spoiling at every contest. Franklin kicked five on Grimes and Roughead kicked three on Astbury.
Astbury played against Collingwood the next week before spending six weeks in the VFL. The match against the Swans marked his return to the senior team.
The talented defender said the lowest point during his period of rehabilitation was the day he was told he needed a second operation.
The best news had been his improvement over the past fortnight.
For the first time he can see a life beyond doing endless laps with fellow key defender Kelvin Moore, who's nursing a long-term hip injury.
Off the field, he's worked with assistant coaches Wayne Campbell and Blair Hartley on match analysis and list management.
"They've helped me redirect my energy," Astbury said.
He's also been able to devote more time to his studies. He, along with Tigers ruckman Andrew Browne, is doing civil engineering and commerce at RMIT.
Astbury said he had learned plenty about himself in recent months. "I've learned that I'm pretty resilient," he said.
He's also impatient, as shown by his habit of pestering staff to let him fast-track his recovery.
The next test of his patience will come next Thursday when Richmond hosts Carlton in the opening round of the premiership season.
Astbury will be sitting in a stand in a club-issued suit, wondering just when he can return to the team — while acknowledging the difficulty of his task.
"It's a lot harder to get a game than when I first got here, which is healthy," he said.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/131134/default.aspx
