“The good news is that it’s a pretty clean break,” he said. “I’ve broken the ulna which is the outside bone of the arm, so (for) probably six to eight weeks I’ll be in the plaster and I’ll play a couple (of weeks) after that. So I’m not doing too much; I suppose it’s lucky that it’s not my legs so I can doing some running or bike work. For the first couple of weeks I won’t do much at all.
“With all the rehab work and expertise we have down here the medical staff will come up with a program that will strengthen it up. It is a little bit disappointing.”
The recent addition to the “300 game club” suffered the injury in a contest early in Saturday’s loss to Richmond. Hart wasn’t immediately aware of the seriousness of the injury.
“I was out on the wing, I spilt the mark and went down for a low ball and got hit by what I think was a knee,” he recalled. “At the time I thought it was just a bad corky of the forearm, but then as I went to run off it got pretty sore and I couldn’t really lift it so I planted my self in “the hole” and unfortunately the ball came my way. I made a one-handed attempt so then I realised I had to get off pretty quickly.”
Although the injury will see Hart spending a number of weeks on the sidelines, the experienced defender has avoided the prospect of surgery and will be looking to begin rehabilitation as soon as possible.
After overcoming a serious hamstring injury in 2004 and finding good form so far this year, Hart is frustrated by the setback but looking forward to returning to the side later in the season.
“I would have almost preferred to pull a hammy, because I know what it is like and I know how to fix it up, I know exactly what it will take,” he said. “It’s just one of those freak accidents, it is frustrating because I was happy with the way I’ve been performing and doing my bit in the side pretty well.
“To have to sit out for six to eight weeks with a broken arm is not the best. Hopefully I can freshen my legs up and come back for the last half (of the season). Its unfortunate, but hopefully I can do other things off the field to help the guys out.”
Hart’s injury leaves a key position vacant in defence and he believes that the Crows squad has the depth and the right players available: “We have a number of guys who can do the job. Kris Massie has been a fill-in type player in certain places we’ve needed him this year and I think he can fit down there. Jason Torney; it’s good to have him back he played well (in the SANFL) on the weekend and can be used down there (in defence). If we need another tall Kenny McGregor can always go back there as well. So we have a few available and a fair bit of depth”.
The “keepings off” tactic used by Richmond has been blamed by many for Saturday’s three-point loss. However, Hart believes that it was a number of factors that contributed to the disappointing result.
“Maybe if we got in front in the first place it (the “keepings off” tactic) wouldn’t have happened,” he said. “But we lost the game not only because of the tactics of Richmond; we let ourselves down with our execution and the things that we pride ourselves on i.e. hard ball gets and (gaining possession of) balls around stoppages. It wasn’t just the way they played although they did do it well.”
Hart’s testimonial game, initially set for June 2, will now be delayed until August 13. But his testimonial dinner, on June 3, will go ahead as planned.
