Geelong coach Chris Scott has dubbed Gryan Miers' plight "complicated" as a dark cloud hovers over his season.
“He's good enough to play, but it is a complicated one and too complicated for me to explain properly in this forum,” Scott said after Geelong's loss to Brisbane on Thursday night.
But according to some medicos, it is not an overly complicated situation. A delicate situation is perhaps a better summary.
Miers has a partial, or incomplete, tear of his ACL but has battled on as a trailblazer - so far avoiding reconstructive surgery.
Zero Hanger's Six Points podcast revealed Miers injured his knee in a non-football incident, later confirmed by the man himself as a wrestling mishap.
Leading sports medico Dr Peter Larkins later told Zero Hanger: "Playing with an incomplete ACL tear is high risk".
It is little wonder then that this scenario is testing Miers' confidence.
Miers returned from a five-week lay-off in Round 10 before being rested a month later and playing one VFL game since.
“He's just been such a good player for us and really important to the way we play. For one reason or another, he hasn't quite been at that level," Scott said.
“So we're thinking about how we can get him back to that level. There are things I won't talk about publicly around what we're thinking, but he's very much in our plans."
Miers has been told his torn ACL should heal over time, and he may not necessarily need surgery. He has been backed in to regain form in the VFL.
Some ACL tears can "scar over" so it is possible.
But right now Miers is a big watch. He will run around in the VFL again on Friday night in Frankston.
He is being sorely missed at the Cats' hope for a tilt at another flag.
