More News From ‘Ankles Central’

The Brisbane Strikers have received mixed news on their latest two ankle injury victims, defender Ryan Mottin and winger Jonti Richter.

Mottin (pictured), who had to be assisted from the field after going down heavily in a tackle in the eighty-fifth minute of Saturday’s game against the Gold Coast Stars, said last night that when the incident happened the pain was so intense that he immediately suspected he had broken his ankle.

Certainly the sight of Mottin leaving the field with his arms draped around the shoulders of physio Michael Fernandez and team manager Andy Coulson, and unable to put any weight on his left foot, was not one to delight Strikers supporters who had just voted him Man of the Match.

But Mottin was surprised to soon be able to walk around the dressing room unassisted. There were no apparent broken bones in X-rays of Mottin’s ankle reviewed yesterday, although there was still enough swelling to cause Mottin discomfort.

The initial diagnosis is that Mottin should be able to resume training next week and will be available for selection again in two-to-three weeks. Mottin, however, is hoping against hope that he can recover quickly enough to be ready for his team’s next home match, against the Sunshine Coast Fire.

“That’s the game we all look forward to most of all, and certainly in my case”, said Mottin last night.

The news on Richter, whose workplace accident to his ankle has previously been reported on this website, is less encouraging. His MRI scans showed that he has torn most of the ligaments on both sides of his left ankle and suffered some small fractures to a couple of bones in his foot. He will need arthroscopic surgery to remove fragments of bone.

At this stage, Richter has been advised that he is looking at two months on the sidelines after surgery expected either late this week or early the next.