Shefflin's return doesn't surprise Giles
August 27, 2010
Former Meath star Trevor Giles
Shefflin made a shock return to training on Wednesday night following intensive treatment on a cruciate ligament tear he suffered against Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final and now looks set to feature in the Cats' 'Drive for Five'.
Giles, a qualified physiotherapist, told the Irish Examiner: "You don't know the extent of the injury, and there are plenty of lads playing with partially torn cruciate ligaments. They've strengthened up their knees and can get by for a long time with that - there are plenty of exercises to do to help that injury, specifically working the quadriceps and hamstrings."
The Skryne clubman, who suffered a similar injury to Shefflin in the 1998 Leinster football final, points to Kildare's Dermot Earley as an example of a player continuing to play with a similar injury.
"I don't know if Henry's is partially or completely torn - if it's completely torn you wouldn't expect the knee to last that long, even if you build up the muscles around it. If it's a complete tear then there is a sense that it's an accident waiting to happen. Dermot Earley of Kildare seemed to get through most of the games this season with his cruciate gone but it went in the Meath match.
"If the cruciate's gone you'll have some movement in your knee that shouldn't be there, so there's a risk of tearing your cartilage, for instance, that's greater than it would be normally. The injury needs surgery eventually but you could take the view as a manager that you'll get through a few more weeks before that operation."
The 1996 and '99 All-Ireland football winner can see the temptation for Brian Cody to play Shefflin.
"With him being such a good player, and such a big game coming up, I can understand them taking a chance that he'll get by with the rehabilitation. But if it was a different time of the year and a younger player, you could take the view that it mightn't be that sensible not to go for the surgery." Tweet
