A handful of Crows will be on modified programs when the full playing squad hits Max Basheer Reserve for training on Monday.
The session will start about 8:15am and is open to fans.
Players with 1-4 years of AFL experience got their pre-season campaign underway nearly a fortnight ago. They were joined by most of the ‘rehabilitation’ group, including Taylor Walker and Brent Reilly.
The remainder of Adelaide’s squad (5+ years) will return to West Lakes on Monday. Young players Mitch Grigg and Lewis Johnston, who both played in the SANFL Grand Final in October, will also return at this time.
Walker (knee), Reilly (shoulder), Scott Thompson (hip), Josh Jenkins (leg), Tom Lynch (foot) and Jared Petrenko (knees) will train away from the main group prior to the Christmas break. Reilly, Jenkins and Petrenko are the most advanced in their rehabilitation from injury.
Poulos said he expected the trio to be close to full training before Christmas.
“’Radar’ has been limited in what he can do because of his shoulder, but he’ll be back running on Wednesday and we’ll progress him slowly,” Poulos said.
“How quickly he gets involved in football work will depend on the range of motion in his shoulder. We’d expect Radar to be close to full training before Christmas and then doing about 95 per cent of the contact work in the New Year.
“I think Josh will be a bit similar to Radar and be back in full training with the group a week or two before or after Christmas. He’ll start the pre-season in rehab with Duncan Kellaway and it’ll be a bit of suck and see as to how much he can tolerate.
“Josh has been running on the Alter-G and has started doing bits and pieces on grass. We just have to be careful and make sure we increase his workload slowly. He’s looking really good. From all reports he’s been training the house down and is looking really good.”
Petrenko was hampered by knee tendonitis for much of the 2013 season, but has responded to rest and treatment over the break.
“Pup’s knees have progressed well. He’s done a lot of rehab work to strengthen his patella tendons. He’s going to have to be managed closely because if we increase his volume of running too much at the beginning, we could set him back,” Poulos said.
“It’s good that we’ve managed to strengthen his tendons over this period of time because it’s stage one of bullet proofing him for the pre-season. I think he’ll be back running with the main group pretty quickly.”
Lynch has impressed in his recovery from foot surgery, but won’t be rushed back.
“Lynchy has been training the house down,” Poulos said.
“His loads have to be managed really well before he starts running, but he’s doing a lot of work off his legs to keep himself in good shape. We’ve probably had to pull him back a bit, which isn’t a bad problem to have. He’s approached his rehab extremely well. We’ll be guided by the surgeon and Tom as to what he can and can’t tolerate in rehab, but we’d be hoping his back with the main group in January.”
Two-time Club Champion Scott Thompson had arthroscopic surgery on his hip after rest failed to correct the injury, which hindered him this year. Similar to last pre-season, Thompson is likely to do a lot of work on the bike and in the pool in the lead up to Christmas. Ricky Henderson, who had knee surgery late in the season, will also be monitored.
Walker, who is seven months into his recovery from a serious knee injury, is likely to be the only senior-listed Crow not in full training by January. The Crows spearhead has passed the halfway mark in his 12-month rehabilitation program, and is prepared for the next phase of his program after returning from specialised training with renowned knee rehab specialist Bill Knowles in the US.
“Tex is looking fit. He did some really intensive work with Bill Knowles over in the US and he’ll be able to incorporate some of that into his rehab program here,” Poulos said.
“This is the phase where he transitions into doing more running and it has to be carefully monitored, so Duncan Kellaway will spend nearly every hour of the day with Tex. The reason behind Tex going to visit Bill was not only to accelerate his progress a little bit, but to prepare him for the next phase. The work he did with Bill will help ready his knee for deceleration, acceleration and change of direction. He also focused on the jumping mechanics. He’s preparing his knee to do a higher volume of work. He’s done little bits and pieces of running but no big distances yet.
“When his knee is ready, he’ll go into his own mini pre-season, which will overlap at some stage with the rest of the group playing games. Everyone has to be patient. Tex has been phenomenal with his rehab and is diligent with everything he’s done.
”Everyone can take a leaf out of his book.”
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