kangaroos.com.au caught up with Leigh Adams and Doctor Con Mitropoulos for an update on the small forward’s shoulder injury.

What happened on Monday mate?

LA: I think it was in the warm-up drill and I went to tackle Nathan O’Keefe and just got him on a bit of an awkward angle and the left shoulder felt like it just slipped out.

How painful was it?

LA: It hurt a bit when I first did it but then it died down a little as it went dead and numb. It was pretty painful the next hour or two afterwards though. It wasn’t a full dislocation so it’s not as painful as I’ve heard it can be.

So do you think it actually popped out?

LA: I’m not too sure; I think it may have just slipped a little bit which is probably good news.

Have you had any problems with your shoulders before this?

LA: I hurt my shoulder about three months ago just before I got promoted into the AFL side…I probably just tried to push through it so I’d get into the seniors. It was nothing too bad and then during the break it got better and I thought it was all good, but it obviously wasn’t.

What were your initial thoughts when you felt it go?

LA: Yeah, when I first did it I thought that was it and I’ll need a reconstruction and Gordon the physio thought I might have been in a bit of trouble as well. That would have meant 16 weeks and that means round one so I thought ‘here we go again’.

Were there fears for the season?

LA: No not really, if it was a reco I would have been right for round one but coming from a long way back.

So what’s the process from here? You’ve seen the specialist?

LA: Yeah, I went and saw the surgeon yesterday and I’m booked in to get it looked at next Wednesday so I’ll probably just get a little clean-out and see what’s gone on in there. I’ll be able to run within a week or two after that and be back to full training just before Christmas.

You touched on the bad run of luck, can you name the injuries you’ve had?

LA: Yeah, I had a thumb reconstruction in my first year and missed 10 weeks because of that, then I broke my foot and missed six weeks the year after, then my first game back from the foot I had a knee reconstruction and missed that year and then came back and had a fair few knee problems over the pre-season and then half way through the year had another knee scope to clean it out again and now this shoulder. It’s been a good run!

Did you tell the family?

LA: I gave Dad a call straight away and he wasn’t too impressed. I can’t actually repeat what he said.

What was your reaction when you were told it wasn’t as bad as first thought?

LA: Yeah, I was pretty relieved about it and I’m glad I can get the shoulder fixed up because it was bothering me for quite a while. I can use the time to get even fitter because I won’t be able to do skills but I can keep running.

Today is Friday the 13th, you wear number 13, so perhaps you should head indoors.

LA: Some of the boys think I should change my number because it’s brought me some bad luck. Doctor Con also said that anything that adds up to four is also considered bad in some cultures so maybe I’ll have to consider it.

Doc, what’s the situation for Leigh from a medical point of view?

CM: He jarred his shoulder at training and had a scan which didn’t show much. He has old rough areas in that shoulder joint which probably require an arthroscope to clean it up. He should be in and out on the day and up and about a week or two later.

How far off full contact?

CM: With this sort of thing, usually four weeks. We don’t expect that he needs anything like a reconstruction because there wasn’t anything indicating that on the MRI, so we expect it to just be a quick little clean up.

Were there serious concerns initially?

CM: Yes, he thought he’d popped it out but it looks like it’s just a bit impinged by a little rough area. If we can get in there and clean it up, he won’t have that again.