GWS forward Patton’s AFL debut on ice
By Melissa Woods, 10 Jan 2012
Related coverage
Hopeful a long AFL career lays ahead of him, injured Greater Western Sydney No.1 draft pick Jonathon Patton doesn’t mind his debut has been put on ice.
The 18-year-old key forward will fly into minus temperature conditions in Sweden for a January 25 appointment with a leading specialist, who will probe his troublesome knee.
He has been diagnosed with patellar tendinopathy or jumper’s knee in his left joint.
The two scenarios are a small operation or continuing rehabilitation, with both likely to keep him sidelined until May as the Giants make their debut in the AFL.
“I’ve got an appointment with the best surgeon in the world so I’m grateful for that opportunity that the Giants have given me,” Patton said at the AFL Players’ Association induction camp in Melbourne for freshmen of the competition.
“I’ll hopefully be back by May so I might miss the first five to seven games but the club sees me as a long-term prospect so, in the big picture, it’s not that big of a disappointment.”
He didn’t realise the extent of the injury, believing that it was “just a bit of a sore knee”.
However, he said it wasn’t considered a severe case.
Giants No.2 draft pick Stephen Coniglio, a good mate of Patton’s, also had the problem and was taken to Stockholm earlier this year to be assessed by the same specialist.
Coniglio had responded well and was on track to be available for selection for the start of the season.
Already an imposing figure at 197cm and 100kg, Patton – who has been likened to Brisbane triple-premiership forward Jonathan Brown – said his only goal for his first season was to make his senior debut.
“I’m not expecting to play 10 games. I just want to go out there and help the boys as much as I can and get some experience.”
The Giants open their AFL competition account on March 24 against their cross-town rivals, the Sydney Swans.
© AAP 2013Looking to join The Roar team? We're searching for an experienced Group Sales Manager to lead our team in Sydney. Yes, this does mean you get to work with the site all day long! If you're a digital media sales star, we want to hear from you. Apply now.
Passionate about your AFL? Then sign up to The Roar's brand new daily AFL email, delivering Roaring articles directly to you day-in, day-out. You'll love it!
Click here to join now!
The Crowd Says (11) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
- Explore:
- AFL, Greater Western Sydney Giants, GWS Giants, Jonathon Patton
January 10th 2012 @ 8:40am
The Cattery said | January 10th 2012 @ 8:40am | Report comment
What a pity this has happened, for both GWS, but for footy fans generally, such an exciting prospect.
GWS’s stocks will be so threadbare that first season, they really need Patton up and running.
When he says:”I’m not expecting to play 10 games” – he is being very humble – he would have played 10 games easily if not for this disrupted pre-season.
January 10th 2012 @ 1:07pm
Greg Mac said | January 10th 2012 @ 1:07pm | Report comment
This kid reminds me a lot of Tom Hawkins…
No doubt, he’ll eventually be a gun player, but all of Patton’s standout games were playing against other teenagers (and mostering them with his size). Hasn’t got a lot of experience playing against the bigger bodies.
It’ll be interesting to see whether he starts as well as people hope or takes the same long road as Hawkins…
January 10th 2012 @ 1:54pm
Jason said | January 10th 2012 @ 1:54pm | Report comment
I read the headline and really thought for a moment that the AFL was going to do this weird “Pattons Debut On Ice” performance for promotional purposes in Western Sydney. I did like the Lion King on Ice and Disney on Ice, so it sort of made sense. In hindsight, its stupid really isn’t it, having the number 1 pick perform his debut on Ice.
January 11th 2012 @ 5:53pm
stabpass said | January 11th 2012 @ 5:53pm | Report comment
You know, i am a bit concerned about this, not just Patton in particular, but many of the kids coming from the under 18′s have overuse injuries, or shoulder/knee etc reconstructions.
As a coach of younger boys, i constantly see opposition coaches, really pushing their kids a bit over the top IMO, to young bodies that are not ready for the punishment, or the mental aspect of the game that coaches push, rather than enjoyment, it is a fine line, because no-one likes to lose.
Its a bit hard to escape the win at all costs mentality, that pervades plenty of kids sports, but the last thing we want is a high burn out rate for our young talented footballers.
January 11th 2012 @ 6:10pm
The Cattery said | January 11th 2012 @ 6:10pm | Report comment
Overuse injuries have definitely become common place amongst draftees over the past decade, i.e. they are starting their careers with problems, rather than developing them once they join clubs.
January 13th 2012 @ 4:50pm
Fitzy said | January 13th 2012 @ 4:50pm | Report comment
Unfortunately these kids want to play AFL, so they train extra, do other activities to help their footy and playing at the standard their at, they have to play reps, state and poss AIS, TAC and club footy the list is endless. They should really reduce the numberof games coming into draft, but how else do they get noticed to take a punt on.
January 14th 2012 @ 11:32pm
The Cattery said | January 14th 2012 @ 11:32pm | Report comment
Just heard that GWS has cracked 4,000 members. Not sure if we can describe that as really good, it’s less than half what the Suns have right now, but I guess they have to start somewhere.
January 15th 2012 @ 10:13am
Ian Whitchurch said | January 15th 2012 @ 10:13am | Report comment
It’ll be a long slog. Im happier about the two major sponsors and the sponsor for the juniors.
Im expecting crowds of about 8 or 9k most weeks.
January 15th 2012 @ 11:27am
stabpass said | January 15th 2012 @ 11:27am | Report comment
No, i dont think we can describe that as good, i would have thought about double that, but being positve, its only just the new year with people returning to work, and the attention is slowly turning towards the football season, with due respect to cricket.
Has the Canberra membership kicked in ?, are the club understating ATM the membership ?, will the Giants increase the junior football numbers in WS, and their other zones.
Maybe we are looking at 10K membership tops here, it will be very tough work on the ground for GWS, their membership department, and all concerned, expect to see quite a number of key personal changes as the burn out rate will IMO be high.
January 15th 2012 @ 1:35pm
The_Wookie said | January 15th 2012 @ 1:35pm | Report comment
I think many of us expected the GWS experiment to be a much tougher slog than the Gold Coast effort. Personally Id rather have seen Gold Coast and Tasmania at this time, with GWS next off the blocks. Still whats done is done, and time will tell if this works. The cost base for these teams (GC and GWS) is lower than the average AFL team, they have smaller boutique stadiums, more importantly these are clean facilities.
Still early days yet, and Id imagine 10k members would be a figure the AFL would be looking at, average crowds of around 15 to 20k.
January 15th 2012 @ 2:57pm
The Cattery said | January 15th 2012 @ 2:57pm | Report comment
As far as average crowds go, I think 13k to 14k will be closer to the mark.