Delisted Geelong forward Stewart Crameri has revealed the severity of his troublesome hip injury that ultimately cut short his AFL career.
After playing minimal football in 2016 and 2017 for the Western Bulldogs due to suspension and injury, Crameri was thrown a lifeline by the Cats, but struggled to break into the senior side in his solitary season for the club.
CRAMERI, GREGSON HEADLINE SIX GEELONG DELISTINGS
“It got deconditioned from the suspension year (2016), I came back and had a really good pre-season,” Crameri told SEN’s Whateley.
“At the end of the pre-season I tore my labrum, which is the cushioning in my hip joint.
“From then on I could have said my career is over, because back in the day you would have said you can’t come back from that kind of injury, I was only the second AFL player to get a reconstructed hip joint.
“I was probably set up to fail a little bit, but it’s a surgery I needed and it was like putting an old part into a new car, it just didn’t really work fully.”
The 30-year-old says he will have to seek a hip replacement down the track.
“It will down the track (have an impact on my health and well-being), I’ll be looking at hip replacements and things like that,” Crameri added.
“It’s hard for it to sink in really, I hope it’s not the next five to 10 years. Playing AFL football certainly didn’t help that.”
Debuting back in 2010, Crameri has played 103 games across three clubs, booting 171 goals.
Listen to Stewart Crameri’s chat on SEN’s Whateley with Gerard Whateley in the player below