Sean Simpson has described the anguish and pain of watching his son Sam lay motionless on the ground during Saturday's AFL grand final.
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The Geelong youngster was knocked unconscious following a sickening collision with teammate Sam Menegola in the last quarter of the decider at the Gabba.
The game was delayed for close to 10 minutes as medical staff attended to the 22-year-old, who failed to move for some time after the incident.
Sean was in Ballarat with family watching the match on TV and admits it was tough to see Sam in such a bad way.
"I was just hoping for some movement of Sam. I just wanted him to move his arm or his leg and it seemed to be quite a while before that happened," Sean said.
"It wasn't really until he was on the little cart that he had some movement... he might have touched his face or something. So that was a bit of a relief to see that...
"I think it took seven minutes for him to leave the ground and it was a very long seven minutes watching, that's for sure.
"I was with my family so I had plenty of support around me, which was nice."
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Sean said the club had been great through the process and that his son had recovered well in the days after the defeat.
"The club was really good. I received a text message from one of the staff members from the medical side of the club, who text to say there was no spinal damage and he had a severe concussion.
"That was pretty much before the game ended that I had that information. So that was good."
Sam had 12 disposals before leaving the ground as the Tigers went on to record a 31-point victory.
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After being recruited by St Kilda from the East Ballarat Football Club and then finding his way to Geelong, Sean eventually retired from the elite level after the 1998 season.
He played 121 games, seven of which were for the Saints as well as 114 with the Cats.
When his AFL playing days were over, Sean returned home to play with Springbank - where he grew up - and enjoyed success in the 2000 and 2001 Central Highlands Football League grand finals.