Surprised we don't have a seperate thread for Alex Keath.

VERY interesting article in The Age this morning.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/...07-p52ygf.html

Adelaide were compelled to operate on defender Alex Keath to repair a stress fracture in his leg in order for his trade to the Western Bulldogs to go through.

Keath will start his Bulldogs career on the injury list, after medical examinations by two different clubs revealed an injury which they believed required surgery.

Adelaide were aware of the injury but believed it didn’t require surgical intervention and instead were planning to manage it differently if Keath stayed at the Crows.

Keath has since had recent surgery and will be unable to train for at least three months.

Despite both the Bulldogs and St Kilda finding a crack in his lower shin, Keath, who was just about to take off on an overseas holiday, had been given a training program by Adelaide that included running.

That holiday has now been cancelled and Keath won’t be able to begin pre-season training until late January at the earliest.

Adelaide were aware of the issue during the season, where a scan prior to the round 18 clash with Essendon identified a stress fracture.

He played one more game for Adelaide, ironically against the Western Bulldogs in round 23. He failed to play that game out after limping off with an unrelated knee injury.

He was then scanned again after the season and the Crows began a conservative approach to rehabilitating the injury after his shin showed signs of improvement.

But both St Kilda and the Bulldogs have confirmed to The Age that their medical teams believed Keath required immediate surgery.

Once the Bulldogs identified the fracture last month, they advised Keath that he would need to have a pin put in his lower leg to justify their contract offer to him.

Keath and his management then returned to Adelaide, where they advised the Crows who, against their own judgment, decided to go ahead with the surgery.

Keath is a contracted Adelaide player until the end of October, meaning all costs associated with his surgery and subsequent treatment will be paid for by his current club.

The revelation has diluted his trade value in the eyes of the Bulldogs, who will now try to attain his services in exchange for something in the realm a third round pick.

Keath’s injury was being managed by well renowned fitness guru Steve Saunders, who joined the Crows high performance team on a full time basis this year, having previously operated as a consultant.