It’s More Than a Game

By Bree-Anna Finlay After three major operations and several lots of surgery to his left knee, Anthony Morabito wasn’t sure if he would ever make it back to the AFL ranks with the Fremantle Dockers. Instead he spent the 2014 season focussing his energies on getting his fitness back and regaining his passion for the game, playing 17 rounds of WAFL for Peel Thunder. However Morabito’s dreams came true late in the season when he was notified he would be flying to Darwin with his team mates for the clash against the Demons in round 16. “I had 1394 days and three knee reconstructions between playing an AFL game,” he said. He went on to play another two games with Fremantle before their season ended. During the last few minutes of Fremantle’s final training session for the season, Morabito was pushed during a drill, causing yet another injury to his left knee. He was assessed by the club’s medical staff and sent for scans that confirmed it was not a structural injury and would only involve a short rehabilitation program. Fremantle’s sport science manager, Jason Weber, said the club was very happy to hear the injury was only minor, requiring two to four weeks recovery time. “I went in for surgery for meniscus repairs four weeks ago now, which is only minor stuff and I started running again this morning,” Morabito said. “I’m just really looking forward to building on this year and having the opportunity to play in the NAB Cup during pre-season, which I haven’t been able to do since 2010. It’s exciting on a personal level for me and something that I set as a goal for myself.” At this stage Morabito is all set to play pre-season with the Dockers and is contracted for another year at the club.