Tadhg goes mental over Jana's knee

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  • Troy G
    On the Rookie List
    • Jan 2003
    • 527

    Tadhg goes mental over Jana's knee

    By Adrian Warren

    SYDNEY, August 17, AAP - Jana Pittman has a bigger mental rather than physical hurdle to overcome according to Sydney AFL star Tadhg Kennelly, who made a remarkably quick recovery from the same surgical procedure undergone by the world champion athlete.

    World 400m hurdles champion Pittman had her Olympic assault thrown into doubt after she suffered damage to the meniscus in her right knee on August 6 warming up prior to a race in Zurich.

    She promptly underwent surgery and hopes to line up in the heats of her event on Saturday in Athens.

    Swans back Kennelly suffered an identical injury before the first round of this season's AFL competition, but missed just one game and returned to the field ten days after surgery.

    "I think the physical part she will be able to handle no problem, it's more the confidence of being able to jump over the hurdles and be able to keep going even when it's painful," Irishman Kennelly said prior to Swans training today.

    "If she can get it into her head that she's fine and keep telling herself that it is good, she should be fine.

    "When I had the operation, the minute I came out, it was a case of `I am going to play in the next game, simple as that, I am going to play no matter how painful I am or how good or bad it is.'

    "An I am sure Jana was exactly the same when she came out of the operation and she found out it wasn't serious as she first thought. I am sure she was thinking `I am going to race'."

    Kennelly, who totted up a massive 28-8 possessions against Melbourne last Saturday in what coach Paul Roos described as the Irishman's best game ever, said Pittman should "give it a good crack" in Athens.

    "She won't be hundred per cent, but obviously Jana Pittman at 80 per cent is still a good athlete," Kennelly said.

    *AAP.
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