Promising Crow Brodie Smith hopes to only miss one more game in his recovery from a fractured collarbone.
Smith hasn’t played since sustaining the injury in a collision in Adelaide’s opening-round NAB Cup match against Port Adelaide. The 21-year-old has stepped up his rehabilitation and could be available as early as round three of the AFL or SANFL.
“My rehab is going very well. I’ve just started running and doing some light skills,” Smith told afc.com.au
“I’m hoping to join the group for some training on Saturday and then progress from there, with some contact work for the next couple of weeks.
“I’m still aiming for round three.”
Smith didn’t immediately realise the extent of his injury, stopping to take an overhead mark before making his way to the interchange bench to be assessed by the Club’s medical staff.
“I had an AC joint sprain a few years ago before I got drafted and I thought I might’ve done that again,” Smith said.
“I was really hoping it was just a ‘stinger’ and that I’d be able to come back on the ground. I was running off with the trainer and then saw Brodie (Martin) with the ball. I knew I was open, so my instinct kicked in and I led for the ball. It probably wasn’t a great decision because it hurt a lot marking that ball.
“Dr Potts (Club Doctor Andrew Potter) had a look at my collarbone and straight away he knew it was broken. It’s the first bone I’ve ever broken and it was pretty shattering news.”
One of Adelaide’s best players in the 2012 finals series, Smith spent the first week after the injury recuperating from surgery to repair the damage. He’s spent the past month building leg and core strength and maintaining fitness on the stationary bike and elliptical machine, but is happy to be back amongst his teammates.
“It was a clean break, but the bones were overlapping a bit too much, so the surgeon put a pin through the bones to put them back together,” Smith said.
“It was a bit lonely early on because I was the only one in rehab and all the other boys were out on the track. It wasn’t much fun, so it’s good to be out on the track and kicking the footy again.”
