"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology." - Introduction, The Six Million Dollar Man
That lame 1980s television show about the cyborg Steve Austin, an astronaut rebuilt as a super-human after a space accident, rings in the ears when you watch Daniel Bradshaw play. Bradshaw could be today's
In fact, Brisbane Lions' power forward can lay claim to a title that carries no statistic or trophy with it. By a strong consensus, Bradshaw has returned from the dreaded knee reconstruction better and more quickly than any AFL player before him.
Just ask Leigh Matthews, the Brisbane Lions' coach, who believes his full-forward is not merely playing as well as he was before he went down in the pre-season of 2007; he's actually improved. "We're pleasantly surprised," said Matthews. "I would have thought his last eight weeks are as good as he's every played, really. I've never seen him play any better than this over a period of a couple of months. I don't know what we expected, but I don't think we necessarily expected him to come back as well as he has as quickly as he has."
Or Michael Voss, his former skipper. "I can't think of anyone who's done it better," said Voss. "To be pressing for all-Australian selection the year after you do an ACL is quite impressive."
Bradshaw's 43 goals in 10 games put him second on the AFL's goalkicking list, only behind Lance Franklin. He is averaging career-highs in goals and contested football. In concert with Jonathan Brown (33 goals this season), he is providing the Lions with the best one-two punching forward line in the competition. Witness the past fortnight, during which the pair have buried St Kilda and North Melbourne with 24 goals between them.
It is not meant to be so. Conventional wisdom is that in AFL football, players returning from knee surgery take at least a month or two, sometimes longer, to reach anything approaching their optimum level of play. The Western Bulldog Robert Murphy, for instance, is playing brilliant football right now, but his knee surgery was in 2006.
Bradshaw has smashed the theory. "I reckon he's the best result ever," said Peter Brukner,
Ironically, Bradshaw endured several complications to the 12-month rehabilitation that is being put up as the model for success. Firstly, he had an injured right shoulder, too, and the Lions opted to have that reconstructed as well.
In April, 2007, he had the reconstruction, in which surgeons inserted a piece of hamstring tendon inside his right knee to replace the anterior cruciate ligament that had pulled away from the bone. Secondly, when he began training toward the end of last season, his knee became chronically sore.
It was not the smooth progression that the club would have liked, for the 29-year-old was forced into a bout of arthoscopic surgery on the patella tendon in the same knee. But he was a good student of rehabilitation, according to the Lions' strength and conditioning manager, Lachlan Penfold, who has seen players in the same situation fall victim to boredom. Bradshaw virtually lived in the gym at the Gabba, churning out three and four-hour sessions on leg weights, in the pool and on the bike.
"The guys battle at times, mentally and emotionally," Penfold said. "They might not turn up for a session or something like that. 'Braddy' might have battled emotionally, but he didn't bring it with him."
By February this year, Bradshaw was flying on the track. Significantly, he showed none of the tentativeness that afflicts other players. "I remember saying to him one night: 'You just don't look like you've ever had anything wrong'," recalls Matthews. "Even at that point, it was out of his mind. He was able to move on really quickly. His confidence in his body, those mental scars weren't there."
Penfold believes that with all the leg weights Bradshaw lifted last year, he has come back physically stronger. Moreover, he appears to be hungrier. "Everyone takes things for granted at times," said Penfold. "Now there's a bit of mortality about it. It's like 'oh s..., this is what life's like without football. I better make sure I do the right thing'. It's a lonely road back. I think they do some soul-searching: 'I'm not going to have this for the rest of my life. I'm going to make the most of my opportunities'. It's a sobering experience."
Matthews agrees that Bradshaw looks more motivated. "There is that subliminal, subconscious aspect that your career is almost lost, or severely interrupted. OK there's a physical downer, but on the motivational side it makes you quite possibly hungrier to do what you can when you can. I think I'd offer the view that he appears to be a hungrier footballer."
Bradshaw is happy to stay in the moment. "I've actually been pulling up really well," he said yesterday. "Obviously there was a fair bit of rehab involved in the injury and on the way back I did heaps and heaps of work involving turning - which is how I did the knee in the first place. Before the first game back (against Sydney) in the pre-season, I spoke to my doctor and he said that once you are able to do that kind of turning work, it means you are pretty much right to go.
"Since I've started playing again the knee has felt really strong and hasn't played on my mind at all. The more times I got my hands on the footy, the more comfortable I began to feel. It was good to be able to take a few grabs and kick a few goals just, I suppose, to realise you can still do it."
DANIEL BRADSHAW'S NUMBERS
Year Goals a game
2000 2.9
2001 2.3
2002 1.9
2003 1.2
2004 1.8
2005 2.2
2006 2.7
2007 -
2008 4.3
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