Sydney defender Alex Johnson will consider LARS surgery on his injured right knee. Source: Getty Images
AS Swans defender Alex Johnson ponders whether to risk radical surgery on his ruined knee, his coach, John Longmire, is puzzling over who from Sydney's premiership-winning team will be available come round one.
Johnson will spend time in Melbourne with his family considering whether to have an artificial ligament inserted in his knee through LARS (ligament augmentation and reconstruction system) surgery or undergo the more routine reconstruction that would rule him out of this season. In a brief interview yesterday, it sounded as though contemplating the injury was the last thing he wanted to do.
"My phone has been going nuts for the last 24 hours, which is nice to see, but it's not really something you want support for, I guess," he said.
"I'd prefer people to leave me alone and for me to be playing this week, but to know you've got a lot of family support back in Melbourne and obviously really good people involved with the footy club and ex-teammates (is good)."
The 21-year-old, whose emergence as a key defensive option earned him Sydney's rising star award following last year's premiership season, was unable to get to his feet after suffering the injury in the first term against the Gold Coast in Blacktown. He is still shattered by how his knee gave way.
"It was a really simple movement and I've watched it a couple of times on video and it was just a simple change of direction when I planted my left foot and my knee sort of splayed out a little bit," he told his club's website.
"At the time I heard a little snap, so I knew I'd done something pretty serious, but because I'd never had any problems with my knee before, I wasn't sure what it was or how long it was going to hurt for.
"Straight away it hurt, but 30 seconds to a minute later I sort of felt fine and wanted to walk off, but the doctor said no and they wanted me to be carried off.
"Then after in the rooms, I felt like I was fine and that I wanted to play the second half but the doctor took one look at it and told me that I'd done my ACL."
Last year's unlikely grand final hero, Nick Malceski, has twice undergone LARS surgery which has enabled him to return to the fray far quicker than the more conventional knee surgery.
Longmire, who twice suffered serious knee injuries during his playing career at North Melbourne, said Johnson should feel no pressure to rush his return to football through LARS surgery.
"Is it worth the risk or not? That is the decision that Alex and his family will make, but it will have nothing to do with rushing him back in quick," he said.
"He is a pretty resilient kid and certainly is the type of kid that will throw everything into his rehab and get himself right, there is no question about that at all."
The loss of Johnson, whose sharp improvement helped fill the void left by the retired Craig Bolton, is hardly ideal given fellow backmen Nick Smith and Marty Mattner are in some doubt for the Swans' season-opening match against Greater Western Sydney on March 30.
Heading the list to replace Johnson is Lewis Roberts-Thompson. The 29-year-old, who starred in defence in the Swans' grand final victory over West Coast in 2005, has been used in a number of different roles in recent years but coach Longmire pointed to him as a likely contender to replace Johnson.
sOther potential candidates include Dean Towers, who was recruited from VFL club North Ballarat at the end of last year, and rookie Dean Rampe. It is understood both have impressed Sydney officials through the pre-season.
"Rampe is obviously one who has played well so far off our rookie list and he will get another opportunity this week," Longmire said.
"We've still got a few weeks to go and we'll see what happens this week. What we're conscious of is not playing too many players (in round one) that haven't had the right amount of preparation."
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