Rodan a Round 1 Chance
Matthew Primus says David Rodan didn't hesitate to have a second LARS knee reconstruction
PTV: Primus On Knees & Leaders
Primus also said he saw no reason why Rodan would not be ready for round one next season.
The 27-year-old had revolutionary LARS surgery on his left knee in December last year when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a pre-season mishap.
He made a remarkable return to the AFL this season, playing 19 games and showcasing all of his trademark speed and elusiveness but fears over the stability of the rebuilt joint emerged when he heard a popping sound as he twisted to take an uncontested mark at training on Friday.
Scans on Rodan's knee proved inconclusive, but an arthroscope on Monday afternoon showed fraying in the original ligament.
Surgeons replaced the damaged ligament with a new one and Primus said Rodan hadn't given any thought to using the more traditional method of reconstruction.
"David wanted to go down that [LARS] path straight away. Going down the path of a regular [reconstruction] means his season would be gone for next year and he hadn’t had any complications with the LARS prior to this at all," Primus said on Tuesday.
"No matter which way you go about doing [repairing] knees there are always things that can go wrong and unfortunately for David it has…but plenty of people have ruptured them [their ACL] again [after having a traditional reconstruction] too."
Adelaide ruckman Brad Moran was forced to have several bouts of surgery last season after the LARS-style ligament inserted into his knee to aid his recovery from a ruptured posterior cruciate ligament failed to take.
There have also been several LARS success stories, including that of Sydney Swans defender Nick Malceski, and Primus said the jury was still out on the viability of the cutting-edge procedure.
"Doing the graft with a hamstring or other [more traditional] ways…plenty of people have ruptured them again too and I suppose in five to 10 years' time we'll know how successful the LARS is once we've had a lot more people do it," he said.
"The ability to come back quicker is fantastic and there have been quite a few guys who have done it and haven't had any problems. Like any operation, it's going to work for some people and not for others, so they are the pros and cons you've got to weigh up."
Port Adelaide forward Brett Ebert is three months into his recovery from LARS surgery, having decided to follow in Rodan's footsteps when he tore his ACL against Melbourne in round 21 last season.
Rodan returned to the field just four months after having the LARS procedure last year and Primus said both Rodan and Ebert were a chance to play against Collingwood in round one next season.
"The best thing about it is that David's got three months to get himself up and going. He was ready to go for round one last year, so we see no reason why he won't be ready to go [come round one] next year," Primus said.
"He's been through it all before. He's a little bit anxious about it, so we might take a bit of extra time with it but he's got to get his head around his rehabilitation again and the club will support him in that."