COUNTLESS hamstring injuries have plagued St Kilda midfielder Nathan Freeman and sent him everywhere in his bid to be fit, including a visit to 'Dr Death', as he finally prepares for his first game of AFL football.
"I've been to Germany, been to Munich a couple of times, been up to rural Victoria in Donald to see some blokes up there, been up to the AIS in Canberra, down to Rye to see 'Dr Death'," Freeman told reporters at RSEA Park on Friday.
"Over the journey, blokes have reached out to me and said 'Why don't you give this a try?'. I just don't want to leave any stone unturned.
"If I didn't make it, it wasn't through lack of trying."
'Dr Death' is just one of the many people to help Freeman recover with the Saint thanking head physio Andrew Wallis and high performance manager Matt Hornsby among a multitude of others at the club.
'Dr Death', or Garry McDonell, is a masseur recommended to him by player development manager Tony Brown.
LONG WAIT OVER Freeman locked in
The ominous nickname originated from when McDonell was starting his business around 30 years ago, when a female from the Rye RSL came to him for treatment.
She didn't take too well to his painful method and was left in tears. She coined the nickname and it spread through the RSL and the local football club.
However, he's embraced the moniker and Saints champions Robert Harvey and Stewart Loewe have been among his customers, as well as a 15-year-old Dustin Martin.
Freeman isnow fit and firing, having racked up plenty of touches in his past seven games at VFL level upon returning from a left shoulder injury.
As Saints coach Alan Richardson explained, there was one final stone left to turn before Freeman would be selected.
"He's still needed to really back his body and take it, in his own mind, take a bit of risk," Richardson said.
"From our medical team's perspective, he was right to go but I think we could all understand he put a bit of a governor on himself, in terms of really letting for fear of hurting himself again.
"The last couple of weeks were really impressive in that space."
Relief was the overwhelming emotion for the bubbly 23-year-old when he discovered he would finally play, against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night at Etihad Stadium.
The time between him being drafted by Collingwood at No.10 in 2013 and facing the Dogs is 1718 days.
Or in Freeman's words: "It's sort of been a while".
He's playing more of an outside role, where the speed he was recruited for can be used to devastating effect.
His belief hasn't wavered.
"I always thought I was good enough to play. It was probably just my body that was letting me down at the time. In my own head, I knew that I had the ability," Freeman said.
After all the hamstring issues he has had, the obvious question was asked whether he has lost any of his explosiveness.
"I can't really remember what I was like five years ago running around, to be honest," Freeman said.
The signs are good, from the coach's perspective.
"His last couple of weeks suggest that he's pretty close to back to his athletic best," Richardson said.
Round 20 is one for comebacks. Sydney defender Alex Johnson will play for the first time since the 2012 Grand Final, Adelaide backman Brodie Smith returns from a right knee reconstruction and Melbourne tough nut Aaron vandenBerg is back after persistent foot issues for the first time in almost two seasons.
"I follow those boys' stories, blokes like (Geelong forward) Dan Menzel and vandenBerg's back this week for Melbourne, and Brodie Smith as well," Freeman said.
"You get a feel for what they've gone through as well, because I've gone through it too. There's some pretty dark times and obviously some pretty exciting times now that we've all been picked."
After a ride packed with so many lows, Freeman finally gets to do what he's always wanted to.
"You sort of forget about the journey now. It's just go out there and play."
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