But the bravest act he’s seen on a football field was on one freezing afternoon down at Geelong – when, clearly in agony, Sydney Swan Daryn Cresswell smacked his own dislocated kneecap back into place.
Dr Orchard, club doctor at the Sydney Swans from 1994-1997 and an NRL club doctor for the past 11 seasons, was reluctant to say which code he thought boasted the tougher breed of footballer.
But all that experience has given him a first-hand look at the mettle of players from both codes.
“They're both tougher than soccer players!” Dr Orchard told afl.com.au.
“I'll stay neutral but they're certainly two of the toughest sports in the world … I guess soccer might make up for it in that they have a very long season, with some of the players maybe having to play over 50 games.”
As for individual feats of bravery, however, Dr Orchard needed no time to name Cresswell’s effort.
“That's about as tough as it gets I think in terms of football experiences,” he said.
“Then as he's sitting on the bench in the second half of the game with his knee already swollen and with the icepack on he looks around and says, ‘I'm gonna play next week with this – I'm not missing a week’, and he gets out and does it. That's a great example of mental toughness.”
The sports medicine expert said most players would have been sidelined for at least a month with such an injury, but Cresswell was well known for his ability to push through pain barriers.
“Cresswell was one of those players who just had an attitude of 'I don't miss games with injury',” Dr Orchard said.
“He was a player that maybe even looked down on other players who missed a lot of time with injury. He just thought that he could continue to play with injury and he wouldn't miss and it wouldn't matter what the doctor said the average person was like.”
Read the full interview with Dr John Orchard.
