Western Bulldogs player Isabel Huntington is one of a rash of AFLW players to suffer knee injuries.getty images
The Australian Football League "has moved to act on the issue of ACL injuries in women’s sport, engaging La Trobe University to conduct a pilot ACL injury prevention program," according to Daniel Cherny of THE AGE. The "global reality that women are more likely than men to suffer ACL tears hit home" over the weekend when two of AFLW’s "biggest names went down with knee injuries." Studies have shown women "are around five times more likely to tear their ACL than men playing the same sports." Carlton captain Brianna Davey’s season "is over" after she tore her ACL in the Blues’ win over Greater Western Sydney on Friday, while the Western Bulldogs confirmed on Monday that Isabel Huntington "ruptured the ACL in her right knee" on Sunday. It is an issue that has "marred previous seasons" of the W-League, "with several of Australia’s leading female soccer players being affected." The AFL confirmed it was working with La Trobe on the matter. An AFL spokesperson said, "The AFL acknowledges female ACL injuries are a global issue in sport" (THE AGE, 2/12). In Melbourne, Cavanagh & Salemme reported the AFL "is hanging its hopes on a new ACL injury prevention program." Huntington is the fifth AFLW player since August to "have her season wiped out by an ACL injury." Medical experts "put the discrepancy down largely to the different shape of the female body," with studies from other sports showing ACL injury rates "between two and 10 times higher among female athletes." The AFL said that last November, it "signed on for a new prevention program to tackle the issue through knee strengthening exercises, including weights programs and altering running patterns" (HERALD SUN, 2/12).
