Hip hoorayBy Paul Daffey
Sat 28 Jul, 2012RICHMOND defender Kelvin Moore is one of a kind, not that he's too pleased with the fact.
As far as he knows, he's the only player who's been through a hip reconstruction.
In all, Moore has had 10 operations on his hips, culminating in "the big one", as he calls, in which his pelvis was broken to enable a reconfiguring of the hips' components.
It's this operation that made it possible for him to return to the Richmond line-up against Gold Coast in round 16 after a season and a half on the sidelines.
"I think I'm a guinea pig," Moore told AFL.com.au.
» Click here to view Kelvin Moore's career stats
"I don't think there's any other players who've had the same operation. I'm a bit of a first, I think."
Moore's essential problem is that he has shallow hip sockets.
This means that his hip joints sat slightly out of the sockets, creating wear and tear on the bone and cartilage surrounding the joint.
Long before his final operation, Moore was in constant pain because of his degenerative hips.
Increasingly, he was unable to twist and turn on the footy field.
From 2008 he had several arthroscopes to clean out flotsam and bone spurs that had grown around the joint, but these were only ever stopgap measures.
"It wasn't fixing the underlying problem, which was that the hip wasn't sitting right," he said.
The pain continued to the extent that he found it difficult to complete chores at home let alone play for the Tigers.
After playing in the final round in 2010, Moore sought advice from surgeons.
Some said he'd never play again. Melbourne surgeon David Young, however, suggested the procedure in which the hips were to be broken to allow the sockets to be cut out and rotated.
"When you love footy so much you'll almost do anything to play again," Moore said.
He had three operations to prepare his hips for the ultimate operation.
Finally, in mid-2011, it was performed. And so began several painful months and a long rehabilitation.
For the first month Moore packed a backpack full of books and an iPad and food and drinks to take to the couch because once he got there he was unable to move.
At the end of the day he took his backpack up the steps of his Northcote townhouse and went to sleep.
For six months he barely moved. His girlfriend Kelly was a huge help, but he became lonely as he sat out days alone while she was at work.
He tried to remain involved in footy by doing opposition analysis work for the Tigers, but found it difficult.
"When it's in the back of your mind that you might not play again, it's hard to concentrate on things like that," he said.
On being able to move, Moore had to work to build up his wasted muscles. He also had to educate his muscles and tendons to deal with the reconfiguration of his hips.
Early in 2012, he began jogging — and jogging. His training partner was fellow defender David Astbury, who was recovering from a knee reconstruction.
A constant sight at Punt Road during the pre-season was the sight of Moore and Astbury doing endless laps of the oval.
The pair became close during their shared recuperation.
"It takes your friendship to a new level because you're seriously doing everything together," he said.
Six weeks ago, Moore made his comeback to the field in a match with the Coburg reserves. After failing to lay his hands on the ball for 20 minutes, he began to find his touch.
The 28-year-old played two games with the Coburg reserves and two with the seniors.
Through it all, he never felt as if he'd lost his ability to play; gradually he grew more confident that his hips would hold up.
Richmond, meanwhile, was going through a tall defender crisis, with Dylan Grimes and Jake Batchelor being struck down by injury.
After just a month with Coburg, Moore was selected to add to his 84 AFL games by being name to play in defence against Gold Coast.
He then followed up by playing against North Melbourne last weekend.
"I never felt I couldn't play any more," he said.
"It was more a matter of whether my hip would hold up, and I'm lucky that it has.
"It's felt really good, actually."
Moore's form in those two games has been moderate. He said he's been happy to play a role in the team structure.
He comes out of contract at the end of the season, but he'll worry about that then. At this stage, he's glad just to be doing something he loves.
"You don't realise how much you love Richmond and that team environment," he said.
"You really can't describe how it is to run out with your mates."
Apart from the small blip immediately after the operation when he suffered a loss of confidence in his future, one of Moore's main traits has been his positive mind frame.
It's that disposition that's enabled Moore to get through a debilitating injury of the type that had never previously been faced down by an AFL player.
"There's a lot of people who are less fortunate than myself," he said. "You've just to put a smile on your face and do what you have to do."
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