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Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says the membership has put “a whole lot of time and dedication” into Tom Liberatore’s return to soccer.
However the premiership coach says he’s more and more involved about any of his gamers getting a concussion, even when they’ve by no means had one earlier than.
The Bulldogs on Monday confirmed its star on-baller will return to AFL motion subsequent month after being sidelined with a nasty head damage in opposition to Hawthorn in Spherical Eight.
The incident adopted Liberatore collapsing on the sphere with no-one close to him throughout a match in April.
Final week, the Bulldogs’ much-hyped 2023 draftee Aiden O’Driscoll retired on medical recommendation with out enjoying a single senior recreation on account of a concussion sustained in January.
Liberatore has been coaching with the facet in latest weeks, and Beveridge stated on Tuesday he can do every part a participant must.
“We’ll introduce him to the primary soccer drills previous to his return to play. If he is snug, he’ll come again into the staff,” Beveridge stated.
“The subject of concussion in the mean time and the impact of it on our recreation and the way delicate we’re to our gamers’ well being, it is a problem to speak about. It is not like he is simply out of the woods, he comes again and performs and every part’s OK.
“Every time anybody who has by no means had a concussion goes [into] a collision-type state of affairs, you maintain your breath. Generally you even assume, ‘Do not go for this one, completely happy for him to mark it,’ as a result of you may see the rate, the dedication of the gamers and our guys have not often pulled out of these.
“With Tom, when he comes again, there’ll nonetheless be that nervousness he may cop one other knock. I used to be speaking to him this morning about method and craft and among the conditions the place he is been hit within the head, and what we will do to mitigate in opposition to it taking place once more.
“We’ll do a bit of labor with that in between now and when he returns to play. Floor degree stuff, he simply fees in head-first, you recognize, we will do it in different methods, which he has previously.”
What it took to return to play
The 32-year-old Liberatore “underwent in depth specialist session” in latest weeks and has been medically cleared to make a comeback.
“Now we have continued to be very diligent and thorough in our processes for assessing and managing Tom following his most up-to-date concussion in spherical eight,” the Bulldogs’ head of sports activities medication Chris Bell stated.
“This has concerned a specialist overview and opinion to assist information his return-to-play planning.
“In some nice information, after some reassuring outcomes, we’ve devised a structured return-to-play plan that, if every part goes properly, will see Tom returning to play throughout the following two to 3 weeks.”
Bell additionally stated Jason Johannisen would miss as much as 5 weeks with a hamstring damage, and fellow defender Ryan Gardiner can be out for 3 months with a wrist damage that may require surgical procedure.
The Bulldogs are coming off an inaccurate however essential win over the Giants final weekend.
The facet sits eleventh on the AFL ladder with 5 wins and 5 losses, and so they kick off Spherical 11 on Thursday night time with a conflict in opposition to ladder leaders Sydney at Docklands Stadium.
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With AAP
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