Horrible news. She deserves nothing but good injury luck from here on in.
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Horrible news. She deserves nothing but good injury luck from here on in.
That is absolute shit news she can't take a trick
At 22 I hope it doesn't cut her career short ala Clay Smith.
Knees in Womens sport is the pits and more research needs to go into the mechanisms and how to reduce the ACL's happening.
A lot of these knees don't appear to be contact injuries but more movement.
I think that covers it.
It isn't knee injuries we need to reduce - but rather non-contact knee injuries.
And the issue is a simple one - a weakness ANYWHERE in your body can and WILL cause an overload somewhere else. For so many years, netball was blamed as a 'knee killer' in female athletes. Then as more took up soccer and (more recently) Rugby and Australian Footy we all discovered that the sudden stops in netball weren't the issue...it was the combination of stop start movement/cod and female athletes that seemed to place so many ACL's under stress.
As for doing 'more' research, well....LOTS has been done. And everyone has a theory. But unfortunately putting the theories into effect/testing them out is going to take years and not weeks...because most of the theories involve movement patterning and full body strength/movement development. Add to this the problem that the athletes in question (teenagers) don't want to do bear crawls and isolateral holds - they want to play footy...footy is fun, the other stuff is 'boring' and, well...what's the guarantee it's going to help?
It's a real issue across the globe. Collegiate soccer in the US is being decimated as well...
We run a Developing Athletes Program at the gym and have to carefully balance the prehab work (which in the coaches notes is ACL and Shoulder management based) with the speed and strength work...Why? 'Cos the parents and athletes see something tangible from the speed/strength stuff (numbers go up) whereas with the prehab stuff they just get bored and irritated...basically, doing this stuff is important BUT it's also a tough sell to athletes.
This whole issue is a real challenge.
After writing my post I went for a look mainly at US soccer because I thought it would have the most info available and one article I read and it was a scan because of all the technical jargon said that they had ran a study in the US were training processes were put in place with balance and strengthening workouts but this would up 90 mins extra to a training session.
So it show very good results early on but tapered off due to the participants not willing to put in the extra time needed and I also think this training was more beneficial to athletes that haven't done any prior knee damage.
So as you say getting them to do the work is a tough sell and maybe this is a reason to make woman's AFL professional and the preventative stuff is enforced by the coaches.
Sports doctor admits code has problem as season ends for Isabel Huntington, Brianna Davey
A spike in knee ACL injuries in the AFLW in comparison to other sports played by females has been described by a leading sports doctor as “really concerning” following a weekend of carnage.
It was confirmed on Monday that Western Bulldogs star Izzy Huntington and Collingwood co-captain Brianna Davey both suffered ACL injuries in the first round of the season.
It is Huntington’s third ACL rupture at the age of just 22.
“We are absolutely devastated for Izzy, she is a much-loved figure at the Kennel and everyone is well aware of her injury battles, so we’re just heartbroken for her,” Bulldogs general manager of women’s football Debbie Lee said.
At Collingwood, this is Davey’s second ACL tear on the same knee she injured in 2018.
The Magpies star has also torn her medial ligament.
“We are all heartbroken for Bri,” Magpies women’s football boss Jess Burger said.
“It’s very hard to see our captain go down with such a cruel injury, let alone someone who is at the top of their game.
“There is no doubt her injury has been felt not just within our team, but across the entire AFLW community.”
Brisbane Lion Kate Lutkins is also believed to have suffered a serious knee injury from the opening round, but is still awaiting confirmation.
Renowned sports medico Dr Peter Larkins said it was an ongoing issue and particularly for AFLW players.
“When I gave a talk last year, I talked about how the knee ACL surge was happening in women’s sport, and women have a five or six times higher incidence of knee ACL’s than men,” he said.
“Except in the AFL, where it has been 10 times higher since 2016.
“AFL even has higher problems than soccer or netball or basketball, or in other words the sports that women still play and injure their knee.
“So, there is something specific about the demands and the changes of direction, but things like the muscular strength around the knee is different in women.
“Things like the anatomy, the shape of the leg, the hormonal changes are the same in every sport, and so the AFL incidents are really concerning.
“The data I showed last year was the 2020 data, which in the AFL men’s season over the past 22 years we’ve averaged 13.5 ACL injuries across all the men’s clubs.
“In the women’s season we had 14 ACL’s in five weeks.”
Dr Larkins said they were techniques AFLW clubs could use to lessen the risk of serious knee injury.
“You can’t change the game, so you’ve got to change the individual factors around strength, landing techniques, learning how to fall when they’re tackled,” he said.
“What women need to be doing is more pre-seasons of strength and specifically on the stabiliser muscles around the knee and the hip.”
It puts a huge dampener on the sport itself. I watch a women’s game and cringe throughout it just waiting for a knee to blow out.
As semi professional leagues I wonder if the VFL and other state leagues have as many knee injuries as the AFLW as a comparison?
The injury rate for the league is a massive concern and as Comrade has pointed out it's a distraction for the competition.
Dogs scratching for numbers as skipper ruled out
THE WESTERN Bulldogs are facing a selection headache for their upcoming match against Geelong, with skipper Ellie Blackburn ruled out through the AFL's health and safety protocols.
While COVID-19 hasn't been a huge issue for the club as yet, injuries have, with coach Nathan Burke saying the Bulldogs had the bare minimum to choose from for their loss to Melbourne.
Young pair Aurora Smith and Annabel Strahan were the Bulldogs' emergencies in round one and were the side's last remaining available players.
Key defender Katie Lynch is a chance to return from a quad injury, as is Sarah Hartwig (health and safety), but Ellyse Gamble (ankle), Deanna Berry (ACL) and Hannah Scott are at least several weeks away.
Burke said defender Bailey Hunt was a "maybe" for this week.
The club leant on top-up players Jemima Woods, Eliza Morrison and Riley Christoergl in its heavy practice match loss to North Melbourne.
During the season, top-up players can be selected (either in the 21 or as emergencies) if the club has fewer than 23 available players.
The AFL's COVID regulations state that games will go ahead until a club has fewer than 16 primary listed players (and five top-up players) available, upon which it will be either postponed or cancelled at a last resort.
That's what I meant by being professional as make football their full time job. Hopefully the training can be put in and the skill should also increase. It might be time with the final expansion clubs coming in to make the Women's comp the curtain raiser to the men.
I wonder how much input VU has to the women's program?
The partnership basically saved Easton Wood's career although Easton was in basically a 3 month full time rehab/prehab environment for that to happen.
Surely AFLW players would be amenable to prehab work seeing up close how many of their teammates and opponents are sufferring from ACLs.
Yep, same with me. I enjoy watching the girls play and fulfil their dream of playing the game but every time a player (does not matter which side) looks like they’ve got an injured knee I cringe. I certainly hope our club is looking into the 90 mins extra training a session to reduce risk. Surely some of these exercises can be done at home too?
Izzy is such an exciting player and seems like a really good person too. Footy gods are bloody cruel.
How does it compare with the ammos for eg or other reasonably high level local leagues?
I guess my question is : is it the training loads/higher performance nature of the aflw compared to those leagues?
Or is it gender based?
It's bloody rough on the players to cop these horrendous injuries I feel for them after all that preparation.
I think there would be pretty strong pushback from AFLW players, officials and fans to it being played as a curtain raiser to the men's games - the argument being that AFLW is the elite of the women's game, so should have a standalone fixture. It's one of the main reasons that the current season has started so early, to give the season its own space.
Mjp is spot on - as with many injuries, people mostly just want to rehab to their previous level and once they are there frequently think 'that'll do' and ignore the advice around preventive exercise/therapy. It doesn't matter how good the evidence is on its own - if you can't convince the athlete/patient that it is worth their time and they will benefit from it then you won't see the benefits.
As a physio, trying to find the Goldilocks level of exercise is tough - you want to give enough that its effective, but not so much that they get overwhelmed/therapy fatigued and don't do it.
She does - standing in the hole in front of a leading forward and doing ZERO to protect herself...I have a post in draft about the AFLW but the fundamentals of the game (or lack of fundamentals) combined with the coaches being allowed to do what they want are killing my enjoyment of the game.
* TEACH the girls how to protect themselves in collision situations. The situation with the Carlton girl (that the commentators refuse to mention) is what she did had one potential outcome - serious injury. Get yourself side on and go back spoiling with your front hand/back elbow tucked in, back knee up. This is actually easy to coach.
* Get them to handball with the correct hand. It will make it SO MUCH EASIER to connect possession chains with handball which will help open up the game.
*.The girls need to stop double grabbing the footy. It's killing the game and is why the better players are able to basically dominate.
*** The coaches MUST BE STOPPED. 32 players in 20m2 of grass is simply a joke. No one can clear the congestion. The game is different to the mens because the players are different. Because Tayla Harris can kick the ball 50m doesn't mean everyone can - most battle with distances beyond 30m. That's OK - the game is still good...but open it up. Play the 3+2 anti-congestion rules from the talent competitions. Do SOMETHING about the 'not looking at the ball' tagging happening to the better mids. It should be a players game - not a coaches game. Open it up - put rules in place to prevent the coaches locking the game down and preventing scoring...and don't mention the stand rule...what a farce - if you can't hit the 45's anyway what is the actual point of this rule? It is dumb in the mens and it is dumber in the AFLW.
This should start from the junior leagues up - what are the coaches teaching them.
How many times do you see this in a game. Also a lot of the players seem to hesitate for a split second when they have get the ball, and they are tackled hard and caught holding the ball.
What do you think about shortening the length of the goal to goal line, due to the players not able to kick far. We could get more scoring?
Overall there is improvement year on year, but a long way to go.
I'm not sure.
Coaching at junior level is a volunteers job though so we shouldn't be expecting too much. Girls footy is exploding over here (which is great) but seems to celebrate enthusiasm over execution...It's like the Auskick kids being celebrated for kicking the ball 20m over their team-mates heads...then in u15's when they are still banging in on the boot indiscriminately they can't understand why that isn't still considered a good kick.
Honestly, much of coaching sucks because it is telling the same player the same thing over and over again even when they are sick of hearing it...but if it's important you can't give it up...you simply need to tell them one more time. When you are celebrating effort and enthusiasm and 'having a go' and outcomes don't matter, well, that gets lost.
This is more a comment about junior coaching full-stop rather than those coaching junior girls...
That's a first option thing and it happens because so many times the player isn't confident enough to hit the handball target OR they try to inside out handball.
I think making the ground smaller without changing the rules to include some form of anti-density control just makes it even harder to find space to switch the footy and run...not a fan of that idea.
Not sold that this year is better than last year. Last year was pretty good. It seems to me the only time you are allowed to talk about the skill levels in the AFLW though without being told it is because they aren't full-time and what can you expect is in Round 1 of the next season when you are obliged to say how much it has improved from the previous year.
I watched 5x AFLW games last weekend including one live. I am a big supporter of the game...I get frustrated because you can't say anything about it that verges on 'constructive' as it means you are a hater.
Not looking good for this week
AFLW staff, players enter AFL Health and Safety Protocols
The Western Bulldogs can confirm that several of its AFLW players and support staff have entered into the AFL’s Health and Safety Protocols, ruling out those affected from participating in Saturday’s Round 2 match against Geelong.
The Bulldogs will continue to work closely with the AFL to determine the next course of action in relation to the Club’s ability to participate in this weekend’s fixture, as per the AFLW Covid Match Rescheduling Guidelines.
The health and safety of the players and staff remains paramount for the Club and the AFL, as the football industry continues to navigate its way through the pandemic.
Dogs game and Lions games cancelled.
Cats and Carlton will now play each other.
Not good
Quote:
Kirsten McLeod unfortunately will be moved to the Inactive List for the remainder of the 2022 season after ongoing concussion symptoms.
All our stars are dropping like flies.
Jemima Woods managed to get on the list may be a dark horse and she kicked 3 goals in a practice game.
"Train-on player Jemima Woods has signed with the Western Bulldogs AFLW team for season 2022.
Woods is an athletic tall forward with clean hands, a strong work rate, and the ability to pinch-hit in the ruck.
A former Western Jet and Bulldogs’ Next Generation Academy graduate, the 18-year-old donned the red, white and blue in last month’s AFLW intraclub match, kicking three goals, and AFLW practice match against North Melbourne."
Link
Two games cancelled again including ours
https://www.womens.afl/news/81199/r3...lash-confirmed
It will be a wash out at this rate. Disappointing for the girls and the fans I wonder if this will be the same for the men when it starts.
Going to be tough for the women to make anything of the season from here - 2 games in 5 days, and then presumably another one 4-5 days after that, and still one more to make up at some point. That's a huge load on part time players - I hope we don't see an increase in injuries as a result.
Can we please sticky this thread
Yes - though we don't have numbers on who has had it vs been a close contact isolation, I'd imagine there is a fair chunk who have tested positive.
The general completion still looks fairly evenly matched - Pies have looked good, as have the usual suspects of Melbourne, Adelaide and Freo - they are all undefeated after 3 games. The Roos seem likely for a finals spot, but I think 6th is wide open.
On the flip side, Geelong have been better but not got a win, while WC and the Saints are winless after 3.
Like the EPL table, it's going to be important to take note of the games played when analysing how teams are going.
7mate will be broadcasting tomorrow's match from 5pm. Go Dogs!
ROUND 4 TEAM
GWS Giants v Western Bulldogs
Friday 28 January, 5.10pm AEDT - Henson Park, NSW
B: Ashleigh Guest, Katie Lynch
HB: Isabella Grant, Eleanor Brown, Richelle Cranston
C: Elisabeth Georgostathis, Ellie Blackburn, Elle Bennetts
HF: Britney Gutknecht, Isabelle Pritchard, Gemma Lagioia
F: Nell Morris-Dalton, Bonnie Toogood
R: Celine Moody, Jess Fitzgerald, Kirsty Lamb
Int: Naomi Ferres, Bailey Hunt, Alice Edmonds, Sarah Hartwig, Amanda Ling.
Emer: Aurora Smith, Jemima Woods.
Contrary to the AFLW site, the match is not on 7mate. livestream on aflw site.