Pins & Needles - 9 Shocking AFL Injuries | Thebigtip

After a week of talking about Michael Barlow’s horrific leg injury, I have spent some time musing on other serious injuries over the years, and have compiled a list of arguably the top 9 gruesome injuries in the AFL. There certainly have been some shockers and life threatening ones.

1.    Neil Sachse  (Spine) 1975
 
Neil Sachse was playing only his second game of VFL football for Footscray when he was left a quadriplegic after a sickening clash with Fitzroy player, Kevin O’Keeffe. He has since had no feeling in his legs and only a little bit of movement in his hands.
In 1994 an organisation was founded by Neil Sachse and Dawn Ferrett to raise funds for research into treatment of spinal cordial injuries, known as the Neil Sachse Foundation. Further information can be found here: http://www.nsf.org.au/

2.    Jason Snell (Ankle) 2001

Geelong player Jason Snell suffered a break in the lower leg and dislocated his ankle when he landed in a marking contest against Melbourne. It was a horrific ankle injury and ended his career there. When he went to hospital and emerged from surgery he was told he would never run again.  He retired at the end of 2002. It is one of the worst injuries in the modern era.

3.    Tom Lonergan (Kidney)  2006

Tom Longeran suffered a serious injury to his kidney against Melbourne where he backed into a marking contest against Brad Miller. Lonergan was rushed to hospital where he lost a kidney and remained in a coma for four days.

Many thought he would retire but he continues to be a key player in Geelong's 22.

4.    Nathan G Brown (Broken Leg) 2005

Richmond's Nathan Brown broke his leg when he tried to kick at the same time Melbourne defender Matthew Whelan dived across to try and smother the ball. Brown’s foot became stuck on the surface and tilted to the right. It shocked many viewers at the time and was first time the modern footballing public had witnessed such a horrifying injury. Brown had a rod inserted into his tibia and underwent therapy over the pre-season.

He returned but was unable to reach his previous best. He retired in 2009.

5.    Michael Barlow (Broken Leg) 2010

Similar to Nathan Brown, Barlow broke his leg in a horrific manner. Barlow threw his body at the ball and Fremantle’s Rhys Palmer dived and went under Barlow causing Barlow‘s leg to snap. As Barlow tried to stand up his foot tilted to the right, horrifying many.

Barlow had been the fairy-tale story of the year, being picked up in the rookie draft and was one of the favourites to take out the 2010 Brownlow medal.

Barlow has been sidelined for the rest of the year but will hopefully make a very speedy recovery.

6.    James Hird  (Face) 2002

James Hird suffered horrific facial injuries when Essendon teammate Mark McVeigh's knee collided with his face fracturing all but a couple of his bones in the skull. Hird was in hospital for a week and subsequently missed a large part of the season. It was a horrifying injury and was absolutely shocking to watch on television.

Amazingly, the next year Hird got back to his best and won a place in the All-Australian team.

7.    Justin Koschitzke (Fractured skull) 2006

A hip and shoulder from Daniel Giansiracusa left St Kilda’s Justin Koschitzke with a fractured skull. He also was back in the news soon after when he fainted on live television, smashing his head. He also collided with an umpire in a VFL match.

He has had a run of bad luck, that’s for sure.

8.    Jeff White (Face) 2006

Geelong’s Steven King attempted to kick the ball out of a ruck contest and missed collecting Melbourne’s Jeff White in the face, causing severe facial injuries. The injuries required surgery and the insertion of five metal plates and fourteen screws into Jeff White’s jaw and face.

White was supposed to get married in the off season but it was postponed until a later date due to his horrific injury. 

9.    Wintson Abraham  (ACL) 2001

North Melbourne player Winston Abraham tore his ACL (Anterior Critical Ligament) in his left knee after falling hard in a collision with Essendon’s James Hird. He twisted his knee in a horrific manner, eventually ending his career.

Australian Rules Football is a tough and physical game on the body. No doubt the AFL has had some gruesome injuries over the years and it’s not good to witness them. That’s football though, within a split second, someone could be out for the year.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment and suggest anyone I have missed.