Big Cat to make last-minute adjustment as AFL’s new ruck rules hit home

1 hour ago 2

Geelong star Shannon Neale has revealed he feared the worst when he clashed knees with Carlton’s Marc Pittonet, revealing the new ruck rules mean he will now adjust the way he jumps at centre bounces.

Neale, 23, has been cleared to play in the club’s season-opener on Friday night against the Suns on the Gold Coast, but only after CT scans and an MRI cleared him of a possible posterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee.

Neale said on Monday there had also been fears of a “little hairline fracture”, but it was later diagnosed as bone bruising.

Shannon Neale (centre) has revealed he had a CT scan and MRI after he was hurt in a ruck contest with Carlton’s Marc Pittonet last week.

“It was a bit of a corkie and bone bruise. It wasn’t straight through the nerve, so it sort of gave me a dead leg. I pulled up well the next day and yeah, it’s really, really good now,” Neale told this masthead.

Asked if he had feared a serious PCL injury, Neale replied: “Yeah. I have never done my knee. You hear stories of, you can run in a straight line but, as soon as you turn, you figure it [the injury] out quickly.

“I felt the contact, obviously, in the ruck. And I was running back into D [defensive] 50, and I went to change direction, that’s when it [knee] went a bit numb. As I said, I have never done my knee before, so it was a bit of a grey area. I was a bit unsure. I was a bit like: ‘What does this mean? What have I done?’

“So that’s when I headed straight for the bench and let the ‘doc’ have an examination. It was all structurally pretty sound.”

The Neale-Pittonet incident sparked more debate that the new ruck rules, which encourage jumping over wrestling, could lead to more PCL injuries.

Melbourne skipper Max Gawn has been vocal with his concerns about knee-on-knee issues.

Neale, an athletic key forward who kicked 44 goals last year, was also used as a relief ruckman last year. But he will now alter his ruck method, keen to have his front foot lifted higher in a bid to avoid bone-and-bone knee clashes.

“I think I naturally bring my foot under my leg a bit more, whereas I have got to keep it [foot] out a bit more as a genuine protector. I drive in with my knee being the furthest point, or the closest point to contact [with an opponent’s knee],” Neale said.

“So, there is always learnings when you get injured. I will keep working on that.”

Cats assistant coach James Kelly had said Neale’s clash may prompt a rethink of who coaches sent to a centre bounce.

Under Chris Scott, the Cats have typically prided themselves on having multiple talls who could ruck – and Neale wants to remain in a forward-ruck role that retired great Tom Hawkins thrived in.

“It’s something I can add to my game … that gets me a little bit more involved,” Neale said.

The Cats expect Jeremy Cameron (quad) to face the Suns after training strongly on Saturday, and hope Bailey Smith (calf) will also be fit. Gryan Miers (thumb) will need to prove his fitness.

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