‘Brüssow’s year is over’
9 Mar 2010
Cheetahs doctor Ian Morris has confirmed that Heinrich Brüssow will not play again in the 2010 season.
After a medical examination last weekend, Brüssow was expected to be sidelined for six months at least.
But after undergoing surgery on Monday afternoon, the results have shown that the openside flank will not be able to feature for the Cheetahs or Springboks this season.
‘Heinrich will be out for eight or nine months, which includes his recovery period,’ Morris told keo.co.za. ‘Heinrich tore a cruciate ligament in his left knee and damaged both cartlidges as well.
‘He will be out for the rest of the year but should be fit at the start of next season.’
With Brüssow out for the season, there will be an opportunity for other players to compete for the Bok No 6 jersey.
Stormers skipper Schalk Burger will look to retain his preferred position after losing his place to an in-form Brüssow last year, while team-mate Francios Louw and Bulls loose forwards Deon Stegmann and Dewald Potgieter will also be candidates.
By Gareth Duncan
48 Comments
9 Mar 2010, 08:20 am
Eish… pity on this Dragon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9 Mar 2010, 08:27 am
Aaaww shame man poor thing
9 Mar 2010, 08:28 am
Ai… ‘n mens wil nie hê dat die spelers so seer kry nie. Hulle “dra” daai kniëe en op 50 is alles deurmekaar en werkie meer so lekker nie.
Baie goeie speler die en ons sal n hengse fout maak as ons nie leer uit hoe hy die games teen die Ab’s en BIL in n oogwenk verander het nie…..
Vinnig, jonk, sterk (ook innie kop) en ongenadelike speler….. sy tipe is die toekoms en hy laat n speler soos Schalla bietjie “oud” lyk…
Geen internasionale ervaring gehad nie maar n helse impak gemaak. Kom one leer daaruit. Van die ou manne moet maar kyk wat het die mannetjie in n seisoen of 2 gedoen.
Byt vas jongman…. sien jou in 2011!
9 Mar 2010, 08:31 am
great pity… feel for the guy… and for the cheetahs…
9 Mar 2010, 08:31 am
@Staal:
Jy’s reg daar – ek is nou maar 27 en my linkerknie kla al reeds.
Maar Brüssow sal terugkom, beter as ooit.
9 Mar 2010, 08:37 am
This sucks…. good luck Heinrich.
9 Mar 2010, 08:43 am
Bad luck for him and Cheethas, but for the Boks is daar darem nog Potgieter en Burger.
9 Mar 2010, 09:04 am
I hope you’re joking about Potgieter.
9 Mar 2010, 09:10 am
Tough break.
Suppose Schalk is a shoe-in as he is favoured by PDiV.
His current form is also helping.
9 Mar 2010, 09:15 am
@PissAnt: # 9
curent form… huh? how many games he played in 2010?
9 Mar 2010, 09:15 am
That is big news and could significantly change the Boks year..I’m expecting a poor year anyway as this is 1 yr pre WC and we’ll have the experiments and the resting of players and so on.
Schalk will come back into the starting 15 but for my money there must be a place made in the squad for Deon Stegmann. The advantages to the Bok team of having a truly mobile forager have been made very clear and Stegmann’s influence over the last two seasons has been massive – he almost overshadowed Brussow a few weeks ago.
Keep Potgieter, Deysel and Vermeulen warm as back-ups (they cannot currently do more than the incumbents) but the go- to guys remains Smith (who was truly awesome vs the Canes), Spies, Burger, Kankowski and now Stegmann with Brussow to return. Throw Danie in as a roving lock/loosie cover and you have your WC 2011 loosie mix.
9 Mar 2010, 09:16 am
There goes the Tri-Nations and everything else.
9 Mar 2010, 09:18 am
Dawn
Has the sky fallen on your head?
9 Mar 2010, 09:19 am
@gunther:
Why?
9 Mar 2010, 09:19 am
@Staal:
Current = now.
9 Mar 2010, 09:21 am
@Staal:
current = nou.
9 Mar 2010, 09:25 am
get well soon
9 Mar 2010, 09:26 am
Not to be confused with
Currant = berry
9 Mar 2010, 09:26 am
At the risk of sounding cynical, but this type of serious injury usually precipitates a chain of consequential injuries, like hammies, etc, due to the loss of stability in the knee- ask Nick Koster who is still fighting the after-effects and Dewald Potgieter who, it would appear, is at the end of his long road back- touch wood, to name just two guys I know of.
And it is always your real hell for leather guys like them that battle to come back because they know no other way than full taps plus.
The physical hits in the modern game are so huge and the demands on the body so great that you literally have to start building from scratch to prevent consequential injury, which is why only the special ones eventually make it, while the rest take a step back and are never quite the same.
And then there is the psychological impact which plays a role as well. It makes a guy not go in quite as hard as he used to, to favour his weak spot ever so slightly, and then he gets caught slightly off balance or out of position in contact, which leads to catastrophe.
My advice to Heinrich or any other player would be to take it slow and methodical and to rope in a top class bio-kineticist to help him with his rehab. Rather prepare yourself for two years out- mentally, from the outset and take anything sooner as a bonus than wanting to rush back and end up losing three of your best years.
That might be the last thing he wants to hear now with WC2011 looming large in his future, but believe me, I know- I’ve been there! So the best we can do for the youngster is to back off with the pressure all the premature in-fighting about his possible successor is causing, and give it time for the full implications to sink in. The guy must be hurting badly, so have a heart okes!
9 Mar 2010, 09:33 am
Get well soon Hein.
9 Mar 2010, 09:36 am
@catleya:
Do you see any heartless comments here?
9 Mar 2010, 09:45 am
@catleya: Can’t agree more. Sadly more players come back a step slower than come back at their previous best.
Bob Skinstadt anyone?
Anyway I hope he’s in the minority and comes back as good as ever.
9 Mar 2010, 10:15 am
@PissAnt: so if he can get form back in 1 game… he can lose form as well in 1 game…
bit quick i would say….
no problem..
9 Mar 2010, 10:19 am
@Staal:
The difference is that old cliche about temporary and permanent.
We all know what Schalk can do, he has proven it at the highest levels consistently.
He had a serious dip in his form and perhaps largely to do with attitude – given his last game – the Schalk (of old) seems to be back.
9 Mar 2010, 10:19 am
Maybe I am going to be proved seriously wrong as-well, where captaincy is the best thing that could have happened to him…
9 Mar 2010, 10:22 am
Have a good rest Heinrich and come back stronger than ever!
9 Mar 2010, 10:23 am
Ag nee man! Sorry to hear it happening to any player and so young too. His presence will be missed this season.
9 Mar 2010, 10:38 am
@WP Till I Die: 30 en myne is n enkel! LOL!
9 Mar 2010, 10:52 am
@catleya: Yep, poor Heinrich must really be under the weather now, but he is a champ, so Im sure he will bounce back.
Knees are a bad place to get injured.
9 Mar 2010, 11:25 am
@Dawn: Dawn, no, not heartless, but any talk about it is bound to hurt right now.
9 Mar 2010, 11:32 am
Ag nee man! This year just keeps getting worse and worse. So if Schalk retains the jersey we basically have two ball carriers, one disciplined and hard-working (Smith), the other a useless eye-gouging headless chicken. Great. As Dawn says there goes the Tri-Nations. That’s if PdV doesn’t see any sense in selecting someone like Stegmann.
9 Mar 2010, 11:33 am
@PissAnt: Is that the Schalk who likes to put his finger in people’s eyes?
9 Mar 2010, 11:38 am
@KZN King Shark:
Is that a question to illicit a debate or are you just looking for a fight?
In the case of the latter, I am not interested.
9 Mar 2010, 12:01 pm
Hmm.. is a great pity. He could have used this year to learn the new set of skills required for the focus on the breakdown by the refs.
Still, we have plenty of cover. Stegman deserves a try too.
9 Mar 2010, 13:30 pm
get well soon Heinrich ***
9 Mar 2010, 14:49 pm
Brussow is the first of many more over played players. Atleast he will be fresh for next year.
9 Mar 2010, 14:50 pm
Brussow is the first of many more over played players that will probably get injured this year due to player burnout.
Atleast he will be fresh for next year.
9 Mar 2010, 15:47 pm
Brussouw will be making his comeback in black and white. What a sight that will be.
6. Brussouw
7. Deysel/Alberts
8. Kanko
I can’t wait.
9 Mar 2010, 16:38 pm
Damn man!! He really didnt deserve that. One of the Sa players with the biggest heart. He´s the true epitomy of what a Ratel is, tough as nails and never backs down. Just keeps springing to his feet and throwing himself at the opposition. Cruel end to his match in the dying minutes.
Hope he recovers 100% – best wishes to you mate if youre reading this.
9 Mar 2010, 17:31 pm
@KZN King Shark: You must be referring to 1 of the du Plessis brothers in the Shark side !!!
9 Mar 2010, 17:39 pm
@Slumtown: It is exactly that playing style and commitment that has led to this. Smaller okes like him an Stegmann tend to carry a bit of extra weight around the waste to have a bit of bulk.
What then happens is they tend not to work on those muscles as much because they chuck that extra weight if they do. Those also happen to be the muscles that give you your core stability in your hips, to which your hammies attach at the one end. So above and below the waste they are extremely strong as we have seen, but their core isn’t what it should beand other muscles tend to come into play to do some additional stabilizing. So of these okes develop huge calves, quads and thighs, packing immense power in those muscles.
When a sudden change of direction happens as Heinrich was attempting, his knee ligaments come under huge undue stress as a result of the lever effect of the extra weight they are carrying above, their less stable core and their immensely powerful legs driving them into an almost unnatural posture. The medial cruciates aren’t “designed” to work as we sometimes expect them to. No wonder these injuries become more prevalent.
9 Mar 2010, 17:42 pm
@PissAnt: PA @24 Schalks dip in form came about after 2 things 1stly the neck injury and secondly the adoption of the ELV’s. I mentioned it before that I thought that this is the year that Schalk will come back into his own because of the change in interpretation and application of the laws.
He no longer has to be afraid to carry the ball up strongly in order to be stripped of the ball in the contact area on the ground as the tackler now has to release and roll away. This gives him the opportunity to get it back to his own side and you can see already that he has been carrying it up a lot more. The same argument goes for Pierre.
Counter rucking rather than stripping the attacker of the ball or slowing it down will be the main focus and with quick recycling your big, fast forwards with enormous engines will come into their own.
9 Mar 2010, 18:19 pm
This is sad for SA rugby. Maybe Rassie can call him for next season.
9 Mar 2010, 22:51 pm
41 CATLEYA: actually it often happens when you try to change direction suddenly on the field that your tog studs- depending also on the type- can dig into the dry grass and keep your foot in position just long enough.
Brussow is quite trim, works very hard on his core stability. Stats show that around 80% of injuries occur in the final 10 minutes. Minor structural damage probably occur earlier in the match- Heinz goes full-throttle, he plays through the discomfort.
Also, unfortunately, anti-inflammatories inhibit ligament repair.
10 Mar 2010, 01:34 am
The worm has turned. Last year schalla was injured and the elv’s hindered his style of being a strong ball carrier and counter ruck flanker, which was contrasted by Brussouw’s awesome pilfering skills. But this year poor Ratel got injured and the new interpretations will favour Schalla. Jis the ever changing face of rugby. GET WELL SOON HEINRICH!
10 Mar 2010, 02:20 am
@catleya: thanks for the explanation – very enlightening.
10 Mar 2010, 06:20 am
Richie McCaws’ sigh of relief registered 8.6 on the “Brussows’****** scale”
10 Mar 2010, 13:50 pm
@GP: So you weren’t ashamed of Schalk after what he did within 30 seconds of the 2nd Lions test? So you see nothing wrong with his actions? He’s just a bonehead neanderthal with a rock for a brain. It completely overshadowed what should’ve been a great victory. I’d happily not see Schalk in a Bok jersey ever again. He should’ve been banned for life.
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