The smart decisionBy Matthew Richardson Wed 05 August, 2009
THAT'S it – 2009 is over. But roll on 2010.
Cutting to the chase, what I've done is stir up a bit of scar tissue in my hamstring and irritated it a little bit.
The good news is that the repair of the tendon was all intact, so I'm happy I did go off the ground, but frustrated in another way.
I knew on Saturday afternoon that I wasn't warming up the way I would have liked, but why it happened that way I have no idea. I've done a month of training where I warmed up every time, so maybe it was just a sign from the footy gods.
I've always said that anyone is nervous coming back from an injury, but I was looking forward to having a run around. I was disappointed that it didn't work out the way that I would have liked, but I'm also happy that I didn't stay out there and do any further damage. In the end it was a smart decision, and the scans have backed that up.
If I went out and re-ruptured the hamstring and had to have more surgery on it, that would be it. You probably wouldn't come back from that, so I'm glad I haven't damaged it again, and that I did the smart thing and didn't try to push through it.
Given that it would be pointless trying to rush back for one game this year, we just decided to leave it at that, and get fit and healthy for the start of the pre-season.
It's a bit of a mystery why I could get through all the training but not the match. It's just the nature of the beast, the game that we play.
It's just unlucky, really – I didn't even sprint during the 10 minutes I was on the ground, so it was probably just a sign that I need to step back and give it a little bit more time.
I'm obviously extremely disappointed as I was looking forward to playing a couple of games this year, but I'm optimistic and positive about getting myself right now and heading into next season.
I know people around the club are disappointed for me – I'm sure they wanted me to get through the game as much as I did but it wasn't to be.
Seeing as this season is over, I'm having an arthroscope on my knee tomorrow – that was always part of the plan at the end of the year. It's just a minor procedure, so I'm going to take the opportunity to get that done straightaway so I give myself plenty of time to be right for the pre-season.
I've spoken to Crag Cameron, the general manager of football, about next year, but nobody's in a position to be making any big statements at this stage. I'll just get this right and get myself up and going with the view to playing on next year.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/82110/default.aspx