SPARE a thought for the Menzel family, who experienced the dizzying highs and desperate lows of AFL football last weekend.

Troy Menzel kicked nine goals in South Australia's 144-point demolition of Tasmania in Hobart just 24 hours after his brother, Geelong's Daniel, ruptured his left anterior cruciate ligament in his first game back from having his right knee reconstructed.
 
"I got off the plane on Saturday, turned on my phone and there were a few text messages from my family. Hearing about what had happened to Daniel definitely made me feel a bit flat before the game," Menzel said after SA's first match of the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships.

"I had to try and put that aside and get on with things though.

"It probably motivated me a little bit in that I played with a bit of frustration. It probably built up and it somehow worked for me to [let it out] on the field.

"But it was definitely mixed emotions for the family over the weekend, that's for sure."

Troy, a 186cm half-forward, can empathise with his brother's plight having suffered the same injury to his non-preferred right leg two years ago in the under-16 championships.

In consultation with his family, surgeon and local club Central Districts, Troy decided to undergo the non-traditional LARS procedure and he hasn't looked back.

"I was pretty young at the time, but they thought I was a suitable candidate to try it," he said.

"So far, so good and hopefully I won't have any problems in the future.

"I've been really good with all of that. I haven't had any problems at all with the LARS and it's been about two years now. I've been quite happy with it."

Menzel finished with 19 possessions and nine marks to go with his goal tally of 9.1 in a performance that earned the praise of coach Brenton Phillips.

"Every time the ball went inside forward 50 he seemed to be on the end of it or setting something up for a teammate," Phillips said.

"He's a very smart forward and he knows where to run to and where the right spaces are.

"His work rate was very good and while he kicked nine, there were some really good chases to keep the ball inside forward 50 as well."

Menzel's effort was one of a string of eye-catching performances from the Croweaters with highly-rated teammates Ben Kennedy (36 disposals, four goals), Jimmy Toumpas (35), Matthew McDonough (32) and Brodie Grundy (20 disposals, 26 hitouts) all boosting their draft credentials.

"We came out with the right mindset and the boys really showed what we're going to be made of this year," Menzel said.

"It was a really great four-quarter effort and I was lucky enough to get on the end of a few, which was nice."

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.