I’ve had plenty of well-wishers and people inquiring about my groin (strange as that may seem) and while I want to get straight back out there I’m making sure I’m doing everything right to have a full recovery.
This will be the third game I’ll miss so hopefully there will be only one or two after that and I should be back in action.
We always hear about injured players going into rehab but little is said about the extent of the rehab.
With my injury, I’m seeing the physio four times a week. Three of those sessions are massages trying to even out the muscles. My back, my glutes, my hammies, my hip flexors all get worked on so there is not as much pressure going to the groin.
As for training, I’m doing straight-line stuff at the moment and will progress to change of direction running fairly soon. I’m not doing any kicking at the moment but I’ll be introducing a bit of short kicking later this week.
Even though I’ve only been out for two weeks, it has been frustrating and I have definitely come to appreciate what Beau Muston and Max Bailey have been through for a couple of years.
They’ve both had multiple knee reconstructions and have spent a lot of time in rehab and I couldn’t imagine the frustration they have gone through. But they are both very positive blokes and they’ve got to have a lot of courage to continue training and keeping their minds fresh.
It goes without saying that I’d much rather be playing than watching but I must admit it is interesting to sit in the coach's box and see the game from their perspective.
I didn’t go over to Perth for our game against Fremantle but I was sitting with Clarko and the coaching staff for the Melbourne game last week.
It is pretty intense. You concentrate on different things to what you do when sitting in the outer. You get an understanding of what the coaches are wanting from the players. I think you learn a lot from them.
You get a bit more coverage of the ground. When you’re out there you are more worried about what you’ve got to do or helping the other five defenders but when you’re in the box you have an overview of all 18 on the ground.
You do get frustrated when things don’t go your way but you also get fired up. When Beau kicked his first goal on Sunday there was a fair bit of excitement in the box.
Even if I wasn’t in the box I’d prefer to go to the games than stay home. I get a lot more out of watching with the coaches and understanding how they want us to play.
Having said that, missing the trip to Perth gave me the chance to get a bit of time off. I took my fiancée Lauren and my son Cooper to stay with Lauren’s parents in Geelong and the following day I went out to get my footy fix when I watched a few mates have a run around for my old club Colac.
I don’t often get the chance to see Colac play but it was great to feel the atmosphere of country footy once again. And it only made me hungrier to get back on the park.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
