Merv Cross
{{Short description|Australian rugby league footballer and orthopaedic surgeon (1941–2023)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox rugby league biography
|name = Merv Cross
{{post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}}
|fullname = Mervyn John Cross
|image = File:Mervcross.jpg
|caption = Merv Cross in March 2006
|retired = yes
|position = Forward
|birth_date = {{birth date|1941|7|3|df=yes}}
|birth_place = Warialda, New South Wales, Australia
|death_date = {{death date and age|2023|8|25|1941|7|3|df=yes}}
|death_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
|club1 = South Sydney
|year1start = 1960
|year1end = 61
|appearances1 = 23
|tries1 = 0
|goals1 = 0
|fieldgoals1 = 0
|points1 = 0
|club2 = Eastern Suburbs
|year2start = 1962
|year2end =
|appearances2 = 13
|tries2 = 1
|goals2 = 0
|fieldgoals2 = 0
|points2 = 3
|club3 = North Sydney
|year3start = 1963
|year3end =
|appearances3 = 9
|tries3 = 1
|goals3 = 0
|fieldgoals3 = 0
|points3 = 3
|source = {{Cite web|url=http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/merv-cross/summary.html|title = Merv Cross – Career Stats & Summary – Rugby League Project}}{{cite book |last1=Whiticker |first1=Alan |last2=Hudson |first2=Glen|date=2007 |title=The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players |publisher=Gary Allen Pty Ltd |isbn=9781877082931 }}
}}
Mervyn John Cross {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|OAM}} (3 July 1941 – 25 August 2023) was an Australian rugby league footballer and orthopaedic surgeon.{{Cite web |last=Webster |first=Andrew |date=2023-08-26 |title='It was a beautiful death': Legendary knee surgeon Merv Cross passes away |url=https://www.smh.com.au/sport/it-was-a-beautiful-death-legendary-knee-surgeon-merv-cross-passes-away-20230826-p5dzmk.html |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} He played in Australia's major competition the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) but Cross, a doctor, was better known for his achievements in the field of sports medicine as an orthopaedic surgeon.
NSWRL career
Cross was known as a strong defensive forward who played for South Sydney (1960–61), Eastern Suburbs (1962) and North Sydney in the 1960s. At the end of the 1990s, Cross took up a position as an NRL board member.{{cite web |title=Vale Dr Merv Cross OAM |url=https://www.nrl.com/news/2023/08/26/vale-dr-merv-cross-oam/ |publisher=National Rugby League |access-date=2 September 2023 |language=en |date=26 August 2023}}
Orthopaedic surgery career
Cross was a pioneer in the field of knee surgery, entering orthopaedics in what turned out to be a golden age for the specialty. Cross trained in the 1970s in Georgia, USA and brought ideas on clinical practice back to Australia.{{cite journal |last1=Hughston |first1=JC |last2=Andrews |first2=JR |last3=Cross |first3=MJ |date=September 1974 |title=The injured knee. |journal=Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia |volume=63 |issue=9 |pages=362–8 |pmid=4479304}}{{cite journal |last1=S. |first1=C. G. |date=September 2005 |title=Jack C. Hughston, MD 1917-2004 |url=https://www.jbjs.org/reader.php?rsuite_id=991840&source=The_Journal_of_Bone_and_Joint_Surgery/87/9/2147&topics=kn+pd+sm#figures |journal=The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery |volume=87 |issue=9 |pages=2147–2148 |doi=10.2106/JBJS.8709.ob1|doi-access=free }} He moved the North Sydney Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Centre (NSOSMC) in 1983 to Crows Nest with Ken Crichton, Greg Craig and Ian Collier,{{cite web |title=North Sydney Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Centre |url=https://www.nsosmc.com.au/ |website=nsosmc.com.au |access-date=2 September 2023 |language=en}} after establishing it in North Sydney in the late 1970s.
Some of the ideas he brought to NSOSMC, which were revolutionary at the time, but have now become commonplace were:
- sub-specialization of orthopaedic surgeons into single joint areas. Cross only operated on the knee joint (from the late 1980s onwards) and directed referrals for other joint problems to colleagues in the same practice who sub-specialised in foot and ankle, hip, or shoulder
- a multi-disciplinary clinic where orthopaedic surgeons worked alongside physiotherapists, sports medicine physicians, sports radiologists, podiatrists and others
- that non-surgical sports medicine physicians should become an independent specialty in Australia and be the doctors who provided best-quality non-surgical sports injury management. Cross was appointed an inaugural honorary Fellow of the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians{{cite web |title=Honorary Fellowships – Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians |url=https://www.acsep.org.au/page/about/the-college/history/honorary-fellowships |website=acsep.org.au |access-date=2 September 2023 |language=en-AU}}
- regular intake of visiting overseas Fellows, including Jonathan Webb
=Knee surgery practice=
His practice revolved around all of the common surgical knee procedures, including knee ACL reconstruction,{{cite journal |last1=Hughston |first1=JC |last2=Andrews |first2=JR |last3=Cross |first3=MJ |last4=Moschi |first4=A |title=Classification of knee ligament instabilities. Part II. The lateral compartment. |journal=The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. American Volume |date=March 1976 |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=173–9 |doi=10.2106/00004623-197658020-00002 |pmid=1254620}}{{cite journal |last1=Norwood |first1=LA |last2=Cross |first2=MJ |title=Anterior cruciate ligament: functional anatomy of its bundles in rotatory instabilities. |journal=The American Journal of Sports Medicine |date=January 1979 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=23–6 |doi=10.1177/036354657900700106 |pmid=420384|s2cid=21603984 }} patellofemoral reconstruction{{cite journal |last1=Palmer |first1=SH |last2=Servant |first2=CT |last3=Maguire |first3=J |last4=Machan |first4=S |last5=Parish |first5=EN |last6=Cross |first6=MJ |title=Surgical reconstruction of severe patellofemoral maltracking. |journal=Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research |date=February 2004 |volume=419 |issue=419 |pages=144–8 |doi=10.1097/00003086-200402000-00023 |pmid=15021145|s2cid=36493837 }} and knee replacement.{{cite journal |last1=Palmer |first1=SH |last2=Servant |first2=CT |last3=Maguire |first3=J |last4=Parish |first4=EN |last5=Cross |first5=MJ |title=Ability to kneel after total knee replacement. |journal=The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British Volume |date=March 2002 |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=220–2 |doi=10.1302/0301-620x.84b2.12568 |pmid=11922363}}
==ACL reconstruction==
Not only was Cross a knee sub-specialist, he also sub-specialized in performing patella tendon autograft ACL reconstruction. His preferred technique included using an anteromedial portal to drill the femoral tunnel (rather than a transtibial drilling technique).{{cite journal |last1=Chapman |first1=A |last2=Murray |first2=J |last3=Cross |first3=T |last4=Cross |first4=M |title=The ACL reconstruction question: bone-patellar tendon-bone vs. hamstring tendon. |journal=Sport Health |date=2006 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=11–15}}
==Cross-bracing technique==
After his surgical retirement in the early 2010s, Cross teamed up with his son Tom and others to trial a new non-surgical technique for managing ACL injuries where the knee is braced at 90 degrees for six weeks to promote healing in the anatomical position.{{cite news |last1=Webster |first1=Andrew |title=Bend the knee: The game-changing procedure for athletes with ACL injuries |url=https://www.smh.com.au/sport/bend-the-knee-the-game-changing-procedure-for-athletes-with-acl-injuries-20230630-p5dkn5.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=30 June 2023 |language=en}}{{cite journal |last1=Filbay |first1=Stephanie R. |last2=Dowsett |first2=Matthew |last3=Jomaa |first3=Mohammad Chaker |last4=Rooney |first4=Jane |last5=Sabharwal |first5=Rohan |last6=Lucas |first6=Phil |last7=Heever |first7=Andrew Van Den |last8=Kazaglis |first8=James |last9=Merlino |first9=Justin |last10=Moran |first10=Mick |last11=Allwright |first11=Maggie |last12=Kuah |first12=Donald E. K. |last13=Durie |first13=Ra |last14=Roger |first14=Greg |last15=Cross |first15=Mervyn |last16=Cross |first16=Tom |title=Healing of acute anterior cruciate ligament rupture on MRI and outcomes following non-surgical management with the Cross Bracing Protocol |journal=British Journal of Sports Medicine |date=14 June 2023 |doi=10.1136/bjsports-2023-106931 |pmid=37316199 |s2cid=259164150 |url=https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2023/06/13/bjsports-2023-106931 |language=en |issn=0306-3674|doi-access=free |pmc=10715498 }}
Honours
Cross was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his revolutionary work in knee surgery.{{cite web |title=Dr Mervyn John CROSS |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/883961 |website=Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=2020-10-27}} He was one of the inaugural Honorary Fellows of the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians.
Cross also worked as a director on the board of the National Rugby League until retiring in 2005.{{cite web
| last = Masters
| first = Roy
| author-link = Roy Masters (sport)
| title = Woman on board as NRL turns a new page
| work = The Sydney Morning Herald
| date = 20 January 2005
| url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/League/Woman-on-board-as-NRL-turns-a-new-page/2005/01/19/1106110816440.html
| accessdate = 2009-10-06}}
Cross was a founding member of the Australian Knee Society.{{cite web |title=About the Australian Knee Society {{!}} AKS |url=https://www.kneesociety.org.au/about-australian-knee-society.php |website=Australian Knee Society |access-date=2 September 2023 |language=en}} He was inducted into the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Hall of Fame as an International member in 2007.{{cite web |title=AOSSM Hall of Fame |url=https://www.sportsmed.org/membership/hall-of-fame#inductees |website=AOSSM |access-date=2 September 2023 |language=en}} He was appointed Director of Orthopaedics at the 2000 Summer Olympics.{{cite web |title=Mervyn Cross OAM |url=http://msa.edu.au/marist-alumni/2023/4/27/mervyn-cross-oam |website=Marist Schools Australia |access-date=2 September 2023 |language=en-AU |date=27 April 2023}}
Merv Cross died on 25 August 2023, at the age of 82.{{Cite web |date=2023-08-30 |title=Dr Mervyn John CROSS Death Notice |url=https://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/488742/dr-mervyn-john-cross |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.kneeclinic.com.au Merv Cross's Knee Clinic's website]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Merv}}
Category:Australian rugby league players
Category:Sydney Roosters players
Category:North Sydney Bears players
Category:South Sydney Rabbitohs players
Category:Australian sports physicians
Category:Australian rugby league administrators
Category:Australian orthopaedic surgeons
Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Category:Rugby league forwards
Category:People from the North West Slopes