IS IT the injury that went away and has returned or has it just been being called something else the whole time?

Whichever it is, osteitis pubis is back in the news after Joe Daniher's diagnosis last week. The star Essendon forward succumbed to the problem after a stuttering start to the season, and is expected to miss at least another three weeks as he nurses the injury.

Adelaide midfield jet Brad Crouch also admitted earlier this year he had been battling the injury, although coach Don Pyke was keener to describe it as groin soreness. Crouch hasn't played yet this season for the Crows.

Osteitis pubis was the injury du jour of yesteryear, with all-time greats Wayne Carey and Chris Judd among the casualties of the injury throughout their illustrious career. Premiership Magpie and former Saint Luke Ball was another to be struck by the dreaded inflammation injury. 

Then, curiously, osteitis pubis disappeared from medical sheets to be replaced by 'groin soreness'. But had club doctors and medicos found the cure to 'OP', or just decided the stigma of the debilitating injury too much and covered it with a new term? 

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"If you scanned 100 guys, 15-20 per cent would have some osteitis pubis changes and symptoms because of the game we play," said Nick Ames, who is the AFL Academies medical services manager and formerly the head physiotherapist at Geelong. 

"Everyone called it that and then people said 'Hang on a second, we'll call it groin overload or groin soreness'. 

"Now if you get someone calling it OP, it says to me it's been going for a while and it's not a new thing. It's an on-going condition that has been hanging around a while to get to that level." 

Ames spent 18 years at the Cats, finishing at the club in 2009 before taking on his current position with the AFL's talent program working with up-and-coming draft prospects every year.

He believes clubs have become more adept at spotting early signs of osteitis pubis and then treating players before it causes a stint on the sidelines. 

"It's the term used to describe an inflammation or degeneration of the pubis where the two pubic bones join. It's caused by overuse and load," he said.

"It was really prevalent years ago because kids kept playing and training through pain and the longer you do that the more damage you get to that area and it becomes inflamed and brings on the osteitis pubis.

"It's less prevalent now because with most people you get it early, you rest them, you manage them and they don't get the full-blown boney changes that come with osteitis pubis. The long-term result is the same and we get them stronger and get them rehabbed and they'll be fine."

Players have been able to hit the field and play while struggling with osteitis pubis, however the effects are clear as it restricts a player's movement, power and explosiveness.

Ames said it was standard for a player with the early onset of osteitis pubis to feel pain in the groin area after a game but for it to subside in time for the next week's contest, which can lead to further problems if it persists week-to-week.

He said the impact of the injury is significant.  

"Your first five metres is much less and your change of direction is less too. The ability to get out of trouble goes. The pain inhibits the muscle function around the groin so your adductor and quads around the groin lose a bit of power. It becomes more and more obvious," he said.

Josh Kelly is another player to be hit by a groin injury this season, with the Greater Western Sydney All Australian midfielder missing since round three.