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Dutchy article from Herald Sun

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Tiger gradually finds his feet
07 February 2003 Herald Sun
By MICHAEL STEVENS

TIGER Ben Holland has gone through the full gamut of emotions since tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament on the infamous Subiaco turf in the fourth round of 2002.

Frustration at the slowness of his recovery; helplessness as he watched Richmond's season slip deeper into the mire, and the mental anguish of not knowing if his knee would regain its former stability.

But now, as Holland's rehabilitation nears its conclusion, he is much more buoyant about the future.

With two more years of a contract to run, the 25-year-old centre half-back is keen to return to the form he showed in 2001 when he finished sixth in the Tigers' best-and-fairest.

"That was probably my best and most consistent year in the AFL," he said yesterday during a break in a visit to an aged care home in Traralgon in the La Trobe Valley.

"That's what you strive for as an AFL footballer ... to be a consistent performer, week-in, week-out, year-in, year-out.

"And then to have an injury and have that opportunity taken away from you so that you can't perform the next year, is pretty crushing and you get down on yourself.

"But then, footy's a great game. There's always another year coming round, or there's always another game the next week. So I've just got to get back to that level of 2001 this year and get back to that consistency so we can have a stable back-six again."

With knee injuries, fear of the unknown can be as daunting as the injury itself, and for that reason Holland turned to teammate Duncan Kellaway for advice during his rehabilitation. Kellaway has endured reconstructions to both knees and is more qualified than most to suggest the best method to rebuild wasted muscles.

After a couple of small complications during the early part of his recovery after surgery to repair the ruptured ligament with a hamstring graft, Holland said he had adopted a "pedantic" approach.

That's why he wears a flesh-coloured bandage on his left knee during and after every training session, to minimise swelling which would hinder his ability to continue to the next stage.

"It's been smooth but slow," Holland said of the recovery process.

"After the operation I had a few little complications in hospital, but that was all natural and able to be monitored.

"I was in a brace for eight weeks. Some people are in for six, some for 10.

"It was just my natural healing ability was mediocre, nothing like David Schwarz. But it's getting there. It's been a long process. Slowly but surely we're getting stronger and more muscle around the knee."

Holland is about to begin the serious training which involves running and weaving and trying to absorb heavy contesting work.

"We're aiming for the first month of footy at the moment, but that will depend on how everything goes within the next two months," he said.
 
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Tiger gradually finds his feet
Must have been  a relief for Dutchy to find his feet.  He wouldn't have had a lot of use for his footy boots otherwise.  ;D
 

Tigerdog

Tiger Legend
Dec 18, 2002
9,776
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Isnt he a Chiropodist?
If a trained professional cant identify the very object of his craft whilst attached to his very own body than its probably just aswell he has got footy to fall back on! ;D