Local Over 35's Sports Season in Jeopardy After Mass ACL Injury Wipeout - Council Considers Replacing Grand Final with Group Physio Session

Liam Montgomery | Sports Reporter | Sutherland Shire Gazette

12 July 2025

The Shire’s fiercely competitive Over 35s rugby league and soccer seasons are hanging by a single knee brace this week, as a record-breaking number of players have reportedly torn, sprained, or catastrophically misunderstood their ACLs.

In what’s being dubbed “The Great Hamstring Exodus”, some teams are struggling to field more than four players, and at least one local coach has been forced to consider subbing in his teenage son, a former ball boy with no medical clearance.

“It started in Round 2,” said Rick from the Miranda Mulletbacks. “One bloke pivoted too hard while pointing at where he used to be able to run, and that was it. Snapped like a twig in July.”

The Shire’s amateur orthopaedic community is now under pressure, with waitlists for knee MRIs reportedly stretching into 2026. Sylvania’s leading sports physio says he’s running out of tape, ice packs, and metaphors for “you’re not 25 anymore.”

“It’s not just the ACLs,” said club treasurer Glenn, icing both knees and one ego. “We’ve got men pulling quads just tying their boots.”

The Council, sympathetic to the carnage, is said to be in early talks to rebrand the Grand Final as The Shire Cup: Presented by Voltaren and Lower Back Regret. A recovery-based format may be introduced, where teams compete in passive stretching, light yoga, and yelling at the ref from a safe seated distance.

Meanwhile, the local over 35s netball comp remains undefeated - with not a single ACL lost and zero whinging.

ACL injury wipeout