Simmonds' big summer
Fri 2 November, 2007
richmondfc.com.au
By Ben Broad,
RICHMOND ruckman Troy Simmonds is ready to put a horror 2007 behind him and return to being one of the premier big men of the AFL competition.
After a stellar 2006 in which many pundits – including his coach Terry Wallace – believe Simmonds was close to All-Australian selection, the former Melbourne and Fremantle ruckman endured a wretched run with injury.
A broken ankle in the pre-season was compounded later in the year when doctors discovered a clot in Simmonds’ lungs – a potentially fatal condition if not picked up quickly enough.
But with that ailment now well under control thanks to medication, Simmonds is throwing himself into the Tigers’ summer regime in a bid to reclaim his reputation as one of the game’s best followers.
“Obviously 2006 was probably one of my better years of football,” Simmonds said at Punt Road on Friday.
“Yeah it was frustrating not to be out there in ’07, to back it up, but I’ve put that behind me now.
“While I was away I set a few goals for myself of where I need to improve and I think I need to go and improve again on the ’06 year that I had … I’m looking forward to a big summer.”
Simmonds said he was over the blood clot scare that left him hospitalised for several days and would continue a heavy aerobic training load along with his Richmond teammates.
However as he is on a blood-thinning medication (Warfarin), he will need to await a medical clearance before he can resume contact drills.
“I’m fit and healthy now,” he said.
“I’ll have another check up in the next couple of weeks.
“Obviously I’ll be non-contact for the first month or two but we don’t start playing games until early January and February.”
Simmonds said he wouldn’t think twice about using his 100kg frame to full advantage once he got the okay from the medicos.
“The Warfarin thins the blood so the bleeding’s going to be a lot more (significant) if you do get a solid corky or something like that,” he said.
“I’m feeling confident and once I do get off that, then I can start contact straight away.
“As I said the ankle’s feeling quite well … obviously you’ve got to monitor it.
“One part of my game is that I’m more of a power athlete than probably a long endurance runner so that’s what I’m working on in the off-season at the moment.”
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