A LOUD pop gave it away for Andy Otten last Sunday; the Adelaide defender immediately knew he'd ruptured his ACL against the Brisbane Lions.
Otten's right knee collapsed in a marking contest during the second term and, despite not having scans until Monday morning, he didn't have to wait for the results.
The 25-year-old told the club website the sound of the rupture was identical to the last time he suffered the injury, albeit to his left knee, in late 2009.
"I knew straight away I'd done my ACL, I heard the sound - it was very loud and a few of the boys said they heard it as well," Otten said.
"It was exactly the same as last time.
"It's tough, but what can you do?"
Otten, his surgeon and Adelaide's club doctor decided against LARS, instead choosing to again go down the traditional reconstruction route.
With plenty of football in front of him, Otten said the risk of re-rupture was too great with LARS.
His surgery on Tuesday evening was without complication.
What awaits Otten now is a familiar 12 months of rehabilitation.
He said he still has a journal he kept during the rehab for his first knee reconstruction and would consult it to try to perfect his recovery.
"The surgeon was happy with it, but he's not going to say he did a bad job though is he?" he laughed.
"It was the same surgeon who did my last knee reconstruction and that has held up … there were no complications and everything went smoothly.
"I know what's ahead, I kept a little journal last time of what I did, so I'll be flicking through that to see what worked and what can help me especially in this early part."
Twitter: @AFL_Harry
