North Adelaide forward Ryan Burton’s horrific leg injury makes him one of the draft’s biggest question marks
Andrew Capel
Adelaide Advertiser
November 8, 2015 2:52pmFOR 15 minutes all eyes were on Ryan Burton.
As the exciting North Adelaide forward took his turn on the medical table at the AFL draft combine doctors and physiotherapists from all 18 clubs scrutinised him like no other member of this year’s draft class.
“Every club was around me looking at the X-rays, playing with my leg and pushing and prodding me,’’ Burton said of his centre-of-attention moment.
“There were doctors, physios and scouts from all the clubs and they were testing me, asking questions and taking notes.
“I felt like a piece of meat and I was pretty nervous about it because a lot of people saw it as my biggest test of the week.
“Hopefully the doctors came away thinking my leg was as good as I do.’’
Burton’s rebuilt left leg is one of the biggest mysteries surrounding this year’s draft crop.
No other player at last month’s combine — where Australia’s best talent was put on display at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium for the AFL clubs — spent more than five minutes having their bodies, in particular previous injuries, examined.
But the 191cm Burton is a unique case.
Before the high-leaping 18-year-old landed freakishly from a marking contest while playing for Sacred Heart against Victoria’s Assumption College on August 24 last year he had been inked as a likely top-five and possible number one draft selection this year.
But his leg and knee were so badly mangled — the kneecap had been dislocated, the tibia shattered and there was ligament and cartilage damage — that there were early fears that he might not be able to run again, let alone play football.
The surgeon who operated on Burton, former Crows rover Matthew Liptak, said he had sustained injuries seen more often in motorcycle accidents than on a football field.
“When I did the injury I immediately thought that my (AFL) dreams might have been shattered then and there,’’ said Burton, who had 10 screws and a plate inserted into his shredded leg to hold it together.
Now, nearly 15 months after thinking his draft chances were “gone’’, Burton is confident he will find an AFL home at the November 24 draft in Adelaide.
Still sporting a 20cm scar which runs down the outside of his knee as a stark reminder of his horrific injury, Burton missed the entire 2015 season but managed to take part in all the physical testing at the combine apart from the beep test, which he avoided due to the rapid stopping and turning on the hard floor.
“I felt I showed that my knee is absolutely fine,’’ said Burton, who made his league debut for the Roosters at age 17 and put his name in lights with a standout five-goal, 10-mark display in SA’s opening under-18 game against WA last year.
“I’ve been training pretty well flat out for the past three to four months and have had no setbacks at all.
“My training over the past few months has actually been better than it was prior to the injury and from what I can understand the clubs are pretty happy with what they’ve seen.’’
Burton, the son of dual North premiership player Craig Burton, spent his year on the sidelines stacking on 10kg of muscle to now hit the scales at an impressive 90kg.
His top-five hopes are gone but he is almost certain to be among the first 20 players selected.
The Crows will look at him closely with their first pick at number nine.
Adelaide last year took a punt which paid dividends on key defender Jake Lever, who slipped from a potential top-five pick to number 14 after missing his final under-age year following a knee reconstruction.
“Fourteen months ago I was sitting in a wheelchair so it’s been a long, tough road and it will be a nervous couple of weeks now waiting for the draft,’’ Burton said.
“But after such a tough year to hear my name called out would be an extra special moment for me.’’
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