Seagull off the sideline

Cal O’Hare, in action last Premier season against Pakenham, is back in the top tier after a frustrating injury layoff. 116345 Picture: ROB CAREW

By RUSSELL BENNETT

TOORADIN champions and great mates Cal O’Hare, Tom Hussey and Aaron Avery have plenty in common.
They’re arguably the three best all-rounders in the WGCA, they’re all big game performers… and they all hate watching on the sidelines.
It was only about eight weeks ago that Seagulls player-coach O’Hare had his second LARS reconstruction on his left knee in five years.
Yet on Saturday he returned to the Premier line-up for his 100th game in the ones after making his return to senior cricket via B Grade in Round 4.
“I wasn’t meant to bowl, or even bat, I guess, but it didn’t end up panning out that way,” he said after finishing with 3/22 from nine overs in that clash.
O’Hare, 25, has something to compare his injury to – when he had the same surgery on the same knee five years ago he was back bowling in about 10 weeks.
“It’s got a much quicker turnaround than the hamstring (reconstruction method) so it’s definitely worth doing, I think,” he said about going the LARS method over a traditional knee reconstruction.
O’Hare (and Avery) had a tough day at the crease on Saturday against Kooweerup – dismissed without scoring.
But now that he’s back in the thick of it, he can work with his team mates once again on their shared goal – another Premier title for the Gulls.