AFTER five months of gut-wrenching pre-season training and just six days out from round one of the AFL season opener, my world came crashing down.
An innocuous training mishap put me on the sidelines
for six long weeks.
I was coming off a four-day break and was feeling fresh at training.
Spirits were high with the start of the season approaching fast and we had just begun our final training drill for the day. That’s when everything went downhill.
I was running at pace — well, at my pace and I’m certainly no Matty Campbell — I had the footy tucked under my arm and changed direction slightly.
I felt my foot crack and give way.
Initially I thought I had stood on something hard like a
sprinkler head, but with no sprinkler in sight I realised it
could be serious.
I managed to walk unassisted from the track and headed
straight to the medical room, still unsure of the damage I had done.
Club doctor Con Mitropoulos assessed me immediately and decided I needed an X-ray.
The X-ray showed a jagged but clean break through the
middle of a bone in my right foot.
The medical term is a broken fifth metatarsal; the non-medical term is a broken bone just down from my little toe. I had developed some slight soreness in that area, but nothing to indicate a bone was on the verge of breaking in my foot.
I guess I should have had more milk.
Apparently, this bone has the potential to break again if it doesn’t heal correctly, so the best option is to have a screw inserted down the middle of the bone to prevent it happening again.
I’m happy to report the operation was a success and not
so happy to report I now have several weeks’ of painstaking rehabilitation ahead of me.
I’m hopeful of a return to football in round six or seven,
and will struggle greatly if it is any longer.
I have only missed one game due to injury in nine years and discovered against Port Adelaide on Sunday that I am not a good spectator.
I had to walk out of my living room late in the second quarter when Port Adelaide kicked away to a seven-goal lead.
To the boys’ credit, they pulled their fingers out and got
back on track in the second half.
I managed to sit quietly through the rest of the game and was pleased with the way we finished it off, despite the 14-point loss.
The round one results confirmed in my mind that Geelong, St Kilda, Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs will again be at the top of the table this year.
Hawthorn, with Buddy Franklin back and fit, along with
Brisbane, when Brendan Fevola kicks straight, are also
contenders.
So why haven’t I mentioned North Melbourne in this group of finals contenders?
Well I can tell you it’s not because I don’t rate our
chances, but the facts are we have 32 players on our list in their first to fourth year of AFL.
I believe we are capable of anything this year.
Inconsistent? Perhaps. Enthusiastic and exciting? Definitely.
The sooner we can sharpen up our game and iron out the
inconsistencies, we will see North Melbourne up with the
best of them.
Let’s hope this comes together sooner rather than later, as I’m not getting any younger and the game’s not
slowing down.
Email a friend