Adelaide have confirmed that Rory Sloane will miss the remainder of the 2022 season after suffering an ACL injury in Saturday night's win over Richmond.
The 32-year-old left the field in the final quarter of the 19-point win after a relatively innocuous incident during a contest.
The club has confirmed that the skipper is expected to have reconstructive surgery in the coming week.
Adelaide High Performance Manager Darren Burgess confirmed the news in a club statement, praising Sloane for his positive approach to the setback.
โAfter initial assessment of Roryโs knee on Saturday night we feared this might be the case and unfortunately scans have confirmed it,โ Burgess said.
โObviously it is bitterly disappointing for both Sloaney and the team, he is one of our most important players and as our captain his influence on what we do is obvious.
โBut typical of his character he is already speaking positively about the challenge in front of him and I have no doubt he will attack his rehabilitation the same way he approaches his football โ with the utmost professionalism and determination and we look forward to him returning to the field next year.โ
Not the news we wanted to hearโฆ ๐#weflyasone
— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) April 17, 2022
Sloane, who has played 233 games for the Crows since his debut in 2009, remained optimistic and pledged to help the club off the field after his season ending setback.
โFor me at 32 doing a knee is not ideal but itโs a great challenge to come back fitter and healthier, itโs a little reset on the body for me to go again,โ Sloane said.
โIโve seen my sister Shae go through it before and I have been inspired by her positive attitude and diligent approach to her rehabilitation.
โSaturday night was an incredible result for us as a team, weโve been building and that was a good, solid grind against a quality side, so while Iโm obviously disappointed I wonโt be on the field for the rest of the season I will be doing everything I can off it to help us keep improving.โ
