RICHARD Douglas credits a cricket box for his speedy recovery from groin surgery.
The Adelaide midfielder sustained a sickening knock to the groin in a trial game against Greater Western Sydney in March, leaving him hospitalised and in need of an operation to quell internal bleeding.
He was originally tipped to miss six weeks but was back running in little over a week and was named one of the club's best in last Saturday's loss to Port Adelaide.
Douglas said his swift recovery was made possible by the use of appropriate protection – a Gray Nicolls cricket box.
The 27-year-old will wear the protective cup, usually worn by batsmen, for the next month before meeting again with his surgeon.
"I'll give Gray Nicolls a little plug, I used one of their trusted boxes that they use with cricket – it just gave me the peace of mind really that if I got hit there again it would be fine," Douglas said.
"The surgeon was only concerned that if I got another blow there it could be quite dangerous.
"Once I got that and cleared it with the AFL I was right to go."
Although he found himself the butt of endless jokes once any long-term ramifications from the injury were eliminated, Douglas said there was a serious side to the incident.
He was scared for a short while - unaware of the exact details of the injury other than that it was worse than a typical knock to the groin.
"There were a few days there I wasn't sure what was happening but once I got back to Adelaide and saw the surgeon … he explained it to me really well and put my mind at ease," he said.
"It's obviously a bit scary - you don't really know what's happening.
"I'll make a full recovery now which is good."
Douglas was a huge inclusion for the Crows against the Power and although the side slumped to a second-straight defeat, last year's runner-up best and fairest performed well.
He collected 29 disposals, booted a goal and managed 10 inside-50s.
The Crows were caught napping early against the Power, who set up a commanding 28-point quarter-time lead.
They wrestled control back in the second and third quarters but appeared to have used too much energy doing so as the Power raced home to win by 55 points.
Douglas said the opening minutes of the game this Saturday against the Sydney Swans would prove crucial.
"We've started both games (including round one against Geelong) poorly … for us it's just important we focus on the first 10 minutes of the game," he said.
"[We] just [need] blokes playing at the intensity level, winning contested ball both inside and outside, surging it forward and winning one-on-one contests."
