In a comprehensive feature that will appear in this week's AFL Record to mark the 60th anniversary of Coleman's final game, Unglik details the 'archaic' surgical methods of the 1950s and describes how modern technology would likely have ensured a full recovery for the Essendon superstar's knee.
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On that sad day at Windy Hill in June 1954, Coleman – then just 25 and with 98 games and 537 goals to his name – suffered a dislocated knee, along with cartilage and ligament damage.
Despite two operations and repeated comeback attempts, he never played again.
The AFL Record also spoke to Bomber greats Jack Jones and Hugh Mitchell, former teammates of Coleman's who were on the scene when the champion broke down.
Mitchell believes that if Coleman had missed just six games instead of retiring, the spearhead would have rewritten goalkicking records and powered Essendon to more premierships in an era that was dominated by Melbourne.
Read the full story in this round eight edition of the AFL Record, available at all grounds.
