ALL-Australian defender Aliir Aliir is targeting a return to the field in the next fortnight and has a new secret weapon helping him get through his rehabilitation.
Aliir suffered a syndesmosis injury in Port Adelaide’s Round 1 defeat in Brisbane and had surgery in the days immediately after.
Three weeks on he is looking to ramp up his training and push to come into selection calculations as soon as next week’s game against Carlton.
“The ankle is good,” Aliir told Tom Rockliff and Orazio Fantasia during a guest appearance on the third episode of the club’s new podcast – Rock the Razbah. “Injuries are part of sport and I think at an early age I’ve come to accept that.
“When you first have an injury, you’re pretty down on yourself and you separate yourself from the group but I guess the more you accept it’s part of the game, the easier it is mentally for yourself.
“The ankle is going well. I’ve run on the AlterG (anti-gravity treadmill) so I’m going to try run outside (in the coming days).
“I think when I first did it, I said (I’d be back for) the Carton or West Coast game so I’ll see how I go there.”
During the podcast, Rockliff and Fantasia questioned Aliir about his love for Fanta and tested his knowledge of the different flavours in a blindfolded taste test.
The 27-year-old also discussed his shoe and hat collections and his new rehabilitation buddy, Rico the Rottweiler.
“I’ve always wanted a dog,” Aliir explained to Rockliff of the puppy he got last week.
“Living in Sydney and being in a small apartment – I wasn’t on the contract you were… so I always wanted a dog.
“I was meant to get it in December and I think I missed out on that so it just arrived on Friday, a little Rottweiler. It’s going got get big pretty soon.
“It’s going pretty well at the moment. The first two nights were shocking, it just couldn’t stop crying but the past two nights he’s been pretty chilled.”
Aliir has played 25 of his 89 career games at Port Adelaide since being lured across from Sydney at the end of 2020.
He was named an All-Australian last year and finished third in the club’s best and fairest voting.
You can watch the whole interview with Aliir on the Rock the Razbah podcast in the video above or listen via Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
