Perth Glory forward Travis Dodd is adamant that his serious knee injury will not prevent him from wearing the club’s colours again next season.
Perth Glory forward Travis Dodd is adamant that his serious knee injury will not prevent him from wearing the club-s colours again next season.
Dodd, who has played the second highest amount of games in the Hyundai A-League, is set to undergo surgery within the next fortnight in a bid to repair his ACL and LCL which he tore during last week’s 3-2 win at Melbourne Victory.
And after a lengthy stint of rehab, he sees no reason why his playing career won’t continue.
“After the game,” he said, “the doctor and the physio were both pretty confident that the ACL was still intact and at worst I thought it was going to be twelve weeks.
“So when I got the news on Monday, I was pretty shattered because it’s turned out to be twelve months.
“I’ve had a couple of days to process it and accept it and now I’m looking forward to getting the surgery done and being positive.
“I don’t want that to be the last game I played.
“I want to go out on my own terms and hopefully that will be the case.”
The 33-year-old’s next big decision is whether to opt for conventional surgery or the LARS method which has become increasingly popular in recent years due to its quicker recovery time, but which some doctors feel carries significant re-injury risks.
“I haven’t made that call yet,” he said.
“I need to weigh up the risks of the LARS option because from what I understand, there have been some problems for players in the past.
“Potentially playing in four to five months’ time rather than twelve is definitely the favourable option from a football point of view, but I need to look at more than just the football point of view at this stage of my career and make sure that the knee is right for life after football as well.
“Even if I go the conventional route, I’m confident that the rest of the body would hold up and I would have a 12-month recuperation and there’d be no reason why I couldn’t come back.
“I’ve got to see another surgeon today, so I’ll get his advice.
“I’ve got a lot to think about, but I’m sure I’ll make the right choice.”
Dodd went on to admit that he’d initially been devastated by the severity of his injury, but paid tribute to his friends from both inside and outside the game for helping lift his spirits.
“When Hutcho (club physio Chris Hutchinson) called me to say I’d torn my ACL,” he said, “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think that was it.
“It was all just negativity.
“I was upset and crying, but having friends around me, they helped pick me up afterwards.
“Talking about it helped and I’m a lot more positive in terms of my outlook now.”
And the twice-capped Socceroo is equally confident that Perth Glory can shrug off his own absence, along with that of fellow-injury-victims Chris Harold and Shane Smeltz and the suspended Liam Miller, to grab the win they need against Adelaide this weekend to book a place in the finals.
“The injuries and suspensions obviously aren’t fantastic,” he said, “but this game is all about having a strong squad and we are only as good as the last man in our squad. “Players have to be able to come in and step up and I’m sure the fellas that come in will have a point to prove.
“They’ll want cement their spots for the first game of the finals because I’m sure we’ll win.”
PERTH GLORY v ADELAIDE UNITED
Saturday, March 30
nib Stadium
Kick-off: 6.45pm
