Bombertalk

AN AMAZING revelation has emerged that John Coleman - arguably the game's greatest full-forward - could have played on after knee surgery. Coleman was only 25 when he suffered a knee injury in Round 8 of the 1954 season.

The injury ended his 98-game, 537-goal career with Essendon.

But we can now reveal that Coleman - full-forward in the AFL's Team of the Century - was medically capable of playing on.

He chose not to play again - for reasons unknown - and retired at the end of the 1955 season after having surgery in May that year to remove the cartilage and a bone fragment from his knee.

Orthopaedic surgeon John Grant, who died last Saturday, pioneered career-saving knee surgery for many footballers and operated on Coleman.

Herald Sun chief football writer Mike Sheahan interviewed Grant in the mid-'90s while researching a story on knee injuries. Grant told Sheahan that Coleman had suffered a dislocated knee and there was no reason why he could not have played on after his operation.

"I was doing a story on the big knees and went to see John in his office, and almost as an aside, he said, 'You know, Coleman could have played on'," Sheahan said yesterday.

"I said what do you mean he could have played on. He said, 'He had a dislocated knee and I fixed him up and he could have played the next year but chose not to. Medically he was OK'."

Sheahan said he thought he had a great story with the mystique surrounding the Bomber legend who died of a heart attack in 1973.

"I said this is going to be a great story, but John Grant said you can't write it because it's doctor/patient confidentiality," Sheahan said.

"He said these were things which happened when I was John's doctor and I wouldn't want them in the paper."

Sheahan walked out of Grant's office thinking he had the best footy story that could not be published.

He said he could have unravelled the mystery of why John Coleman was gone at 25.

"Here he was, the full-forward of the century who probably had another 100 games in him, but he (Grant) was adamant the knee injury should not have ended his career," he said.

Sheahan said Coleman's premature retirement from the game would be like Carlton captain Chris Judd, 25, retiring at the end of this season.

Such was Coleman's greatness that the AFL's leading goalkicker each season is presented with the John Coleman Medal.

I'm not sure of the accuracy of Sheahan's story. For starters, does the doctor / patient confidentiality no longer exist once the doctor dies? It seems convenient for Sheahan that the doc cannot confirm his story (not that I doubt this could have been said). But anyway, I found this extract from the book "Flying Higher";

John Coleman strove valiantly to overcome his leg injury at the start of 1956., and at one stage looked as though he may have made a comeback. But the seriousness of the injury became apparent as he progressed in his training, and he had to give away all idea of resuming his place in the side.

Coleman's decision not to play was made in the end by the medical specialists and the club. Coleman himself thought he could make it, and some of his team mates including Dick Reynolds and Bill Brittingham still believe he should have persevered and could have made it.

So, this makes it a little hard for me to believe a journalist. Perhaps he has sensationalised the doc's comments? Who knows.

It is interesting to think "what could have been" if John Coleman played 200 games. On average, he would have kicked 1100 goals, and we might have won another flag or two.....

This poses a fascinating scenario. I recall that Coley actually played in a practice match the year following the injury but reached the conclusion then that he could not continue. I will ask my old man who, through his father, was closely associated with the club during this era, for any info.

There you go, and it was the 50s, I am sure rehab was not was it is now.

Rockhole is correct.
He played the first half,the place was packed with many still turning up.
Never appeared again.
Apparently the knee was swelling -again-and he finally became fed up probably fearing he was unlikely to again reach the "heights",literally, that he had before the injury.

perhaps in some ways it adds to the enigma and fascination in Coleman that his career was cut short by so many years. Who knows, perhaps had he recovered he may have struggled to reach his earlier incredible standards and played out his days being nothing more than an ok player. Perhaps, had he done this, we may not have the Coleman Medal that we have today?

Then again, he might have gone out and kicked another 500 goals and the Bombers might have won 2-3 more Premierships

He also supposedly played in a practice match before the 1962 Grand Final. The story was that he was thinking of playing FF in place of Charlie Payne, whose form was very ordinary and was arguably our only weakness. Legend has it that he took several big marks and could easily have played but finally decided to go with Payne.

BenDoolan wrote:I'm not sure of the accuracy of Sheahan's story. For starters, does the doctor / patient confidentiality no longer exist once the doctor dies?

Once the doctor and patient have died there is no reason for anything to remain confidential, in my opinion.

While modern medical techniques and diagnosis are far more advanced, we all know that even the mere mortal can recover from a simple knee dislocation whether it was the 50's or the 00's

Also Sheahan may be wanker but to make up a story like that would be seemingly retarded, let alone anyone to think he made it up.

As a veteran of over half a dozen knee dislocations, I can understand why he gave it all away. It's not as easy as it might sound coming back from this kind of injury. Rebuilding strength in the knee is the key. I'm a bit of a beanpole and as a result, found it hard to build any muscle near the kneecap to hold it in place. If it went out, I got to the point of putting it back in myself as soon as possible. This keeps the swelling down...

Coleman had a similar build I'm guessing. Maybe he never felt any confidence in his knee holding up and just said no.

A small but useless piece of trivia for you people... Knee dislocations are actually a hereditary condition. Something for your next dinner conversation...

nomolos wrote:

BenDoolan wrote:I'm not sure of the accuracy of Sheahan's story. For starters, does the doctor / patient confidentiality no longer exist once the doctor dies?

Once the doctor and patient have died there is no reason for anything to remain confidential, in my opinion.

While modern medical techniques and diagnosis are far more advanced, we all know that even the mere mortal can recover from a simple knee dislocation whether it was the 50's or the 00's

Also Sheahan may be wanker but to make up a story like that would be seemingly retarded, let alone anyone to think he made it up.

Sheahan wrote:
I said what do you mean he could have played on. He said, 'He had a dislocated knee and I fixed him up and he could have played the next year but chose not to. Medically he was OK'

Flying Higher wrote:
Coleman's decision not to play was made in the end by the medical specialists and the club. Coleman himself thought he could make it, and some of his team mates including Dick Reynolds and Bill Brittingham still believe he should have persevered and could have made it

Seems a bit of a contradiction there don't you think? Only that the doctor is no longer around to confirm Sheahan's claims. Yeah, I mean, would it be the first time a journo bent the truth a little? Hmmm, yeah....

Nice Romantic Notion,but that's about it.No way he could have played.But if he did,MAYBE the '59 AND '60 Seasons.

I though he could only kick on his opposite foot after the injury, didn't he also have a limp?

I find Sheahan's comparison between Coleman and Judd a bit rich.

robrulz5 wrote:I though he could only kick on his opposite foot after the injury, didn't he also have a limp?

I find Sheahan's comparison between Coleman and Judd a bit rich.

I think your comparison of Coleman and Judd to Daniel Rich is even worse!

BenDoolan wrote:

robrulz5 wrote:I though he could only kick on his opposite foot after the injury, didn't he also have a limp?

I find Sheahan's comparison between Coleman and Judd a bit rich.

I think your comparison of Coleman and Judd to Daniel Rich is even worse!

or Richer

Interesting story. If he and the club didn't think he could get back to his former self, I guess it's fine. I doubt that they would have discovered he could have been 100% but decided against him playing. He was a pretty handy player... Maybe he was told he could play on, but only about 20-30% capacity. As others have said, bending the truth probably.

BenDoolan wrote: For starters, does the doctor / patient confidentiality no longer exist once the doctor dies?

Well the confidentiality was broken in the first place, as the doctor had no legal reason to tell Sheahan. I guess if the doctor has passed away then, he can't really get into trouble for breaking the confidentiality, I doubt that it would it cease to exist though. Maybe Jimmy would know. I tuned out in our Med Law tutorials