I think fans too often labour under the misunderstanding that injury rehab is an exact science.
I had two ACL recons in my youth, one on each knee. Similar injuries, same very highly regarded surgeon and very similar rehab. One went well and the other I had complications which have lingered to this day.
AFL players these days are, for better or worse, like formula one cars: they are so finely tuned that small issues can mean the difference between playing and not. Calls about when to step up rehab, when to start competitive training, when to play in the ressies and when to go out and play in the bigs are not black and white. Even the best experts will get those calls wrong sometimes.
We notice those calls for Freo because we are invested. We have little idea how that translates to other AFL clubs, but a cursory review of the AFL injury lists suggests we aren’t an anomaly. The AFL also gathers and shares injury reports, so the club would know where it sits relative to its peers.
Clarke hurt his knee at a music festival. Surely if you were going to point the finger at anyone in this instance it would be the player.
