Wed 31st Jan 2007

QUEENSLAND Roar defender Josh McCloughan will today undergo surgery to repair an articular cartilage tear in his right knee.

According to Roar Fitness Coordinator Tony Ganter, the injury, which McCloughan has been quietly carrying since round thirteen, is much more serious than a normal cartilage tear and playing would have been incredibly painful.

“Most cartilage tears are on the thick, spongy plate of cartilage in your knee joint which isn’t too bad, but what Josh has got is a tear actually on his femur which almost like the knuckle bone of a chicken,” said Ganter.

“It’s actually on the surface and is right where his kneecap hits; he’s been carrying it since round thirteen and has basically played with his knee constantly swelling up then going down. He’s been having physio on his every week for the last couple of months just to hold him together.

“With the change in coaching staff and only eight games left, Josh spoke to myself, Frank and the surgeon and we told him we would keep him together for as long as we could; if he could make it to the end of the season, great, and if he couldn’t then he needed surgery as soon as possible.

“He basically had to battle through it and although it was painful, he’s a tough rooster. There are probably only a handful of players in the league that could have played on with what he’s got; most would have chosen not played with it, had the surgery and missed the last eight games, but Josh toughed it out.”

Following the surgery, McCloughan will spend his four week break resting before returning to training six weeks prior to the official preseason in a bid to rebuild lost muscle.

“The surgeon will now go in, fix the problem and then he can start his rehab,” said Ganter.

“He’ll take his four weeks leave and then come back and start in the gym six weeks ahead of everyone else to rebuild that leg. He sustained the injury after going into a tackle and landing his bodyweight on his kneecap; he’s lunged into the ground and his kneecap has his the back of his femur so hard that it’s just like a nine-iron taking a big chunk out of the ground.

“From then on in, every time he’s bent, twisted and rotated the knee, the kneecap keeps hitting against what is torn; every time he lunges it would be like a big knife dropping through his knee which makes it swell up. He’s had a lot to put up with.”