Captain Nathan van Berlo’s meticulous approach to his rehabilitation from an Achilles injury has been recognised with the Dr Brian Sando OAM Trophy.
Van Berlo, 28, becomes only the second-ever winner of the trophy, which was coined in 2012 in memory of long-serving Crows doctor and Life Member Dr Brian Sando OAM, who passed away after a battle with illness.
It recognises outstanding and professional attention to detail in the standard of preparation for being an AFL footballer. Defender Daniel Talia claimed the honour back-to-back in 2012-13.
Van Berlo ruptured his right Achilles tendon in a freak pre-season training accident in January. The hard-running midfielder required surgery to repair the damage and was confined to a moon boot for three months.
He gradually increased his training load over a period of seven months and would’ve been a strong chance to play finals either in the SANFL or AFL had Adelaide qualified.
“I came really close. I’d probably be ready to play this week if everything went to plan. I needed the SANFL boys to play finals to give me a chance to get some match fitness and move into the AFL team if we’d made finals there too, but it didn’t quite work out,” van Berlo said.
“It’s been a really frustrating year for me, personally, not being able to get out there and help the boys when we’ve had fluctuations in form.
“I’ll have an 18-month pre-season now to get myself up and going for Season 2015. I’m certainly feeling really good at the moment. It’s just hard knowing that I’m ready to go, but that I have to sit back and wait another 6-8 months before the season starts again.”
Van Berlo continued to play a leading role around the Club during his stint on the sidelines.
The West Australian gained an insight in the coaches’ box on match day, and acted as a mentor to vice-captains Patrick Dangerfield and Rory Sloane and the rest of Adelaide’s senior leadership group during the week.
He will be ready for the start of pre-season training when the players return in early-mid November.
The Crows will provide fans with a live stream of the last hour of Friday night's 2014 Club Champion presentation from 9.45pm.
