Melbourne forward Brody Mihocek experienced a temporary loss of feeling in parts of his body after being knocked out on the MCG during a match against his former team, Collingwood. However, following neck scans, he was sitting up in his hospital bed, asking to listen to the rest of the intense King’s Birthday clash on the radio.
Mihocek was at The Alfred Hospital on Monday night alongside his wife Polly, and he was in good spirits as he awaited the results of his scans. The Demons secured an eight-point victory in front of a crowd of 88,019 people. He had full movement in his arms, legs, fingers, and toes.
The potentially serious neck injury occurred when Mihocek landed head-first into the ground during an awkward tackle by former teammate Billy Frampton in the second quarter. Frampton was awarded a free kick after Mihocek slipped while trying to duck the oncoming defender. It appeared that Mihocek’s head struck Frampton’s knee before both players went to ground. Mihocek then landed with the top of his head on the turf.
When Collingwood players approached to wish their former teammate well, Mihocek looked up at his close friend Jack Crisp and smiled, giving him a thumbs up. This moment brought some relief to the players and fans alike.
It was Mihocek’s first game against his old side. He had hugged Crisp before the teams jointly ran through a banner, then was arm-in-arm with Crisp as the clubs formed a circle to pay tribute to the former Melbourne coach after his recent death from Motor Neurone Disease.
“It is difficult to see,” Crisp said of the injury to his friend. “I saw him before the game and he had a smile on his face. We are best friends, so to see that happened it gets your emotions going. And after [Mihocek’s] recent concussion as well, it didn’t look good, but when we all went over to wish him well, he looked at me and smiled. He was in good spirits.
“He was moving his arms and legs, I reckon just to make sure everything was OK, but he had a smile on his face when I looked at him on the way past, which made me feel better. It was the first time playing against him, and every time we ran past each other on the field, we were bumping each other, so we were having a bit of fun out there, but that happens, which is quite sad. So we really wish him the best.
“It was hard to refocus, but then the game moves so fast as well. So getting together as a team, we tried to reset ourselves and focus again. I still thought about it again through the game as well, as most people did.”
Crisp mentioned that Frampton had been trying to corral Mihocek when the pair became entangled. “Billy was OK; he was talking about it before. It was an accident, it was just the way they went to ground. ‘Checkers’ slipped when he tried to corral him, and Billy was really careful with his tackle, hence why he got the free kick, but it’s just unfortunate in footy.”
Play was stopped for more than eight minutes as Mihocek was treated on the ground by Melbourne doctors and the AFL physician. Demons coach Steven King confirmed that Mihocek had temporarily lost feeling down one side.
“All our thoughts are with him at the moment,” King said. “He’s getting scans, and we’re just waiting to see what happens there, but fingers and toes are crossed for him.”
“We’re obviously concerned. It didn’t look great, and when you see a player go down with issues around the head and neck, that’s serious.”
Although Frampton was awarded a free kick, the match review officer will likely investigate the incident for a dangerous tackle given the potential severity of the injury.
Kozzie Pickett won the Neale Daniher Trophy for best on ground in Melbourne’s come-from-behind win for his 28 possessions and three goals, including the goal to seal the game with 30 seconds left on the clock. He will also face scrutiny by the MRO for two incidents.
Pickett appeared to trip Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard, who had earlier been off with a dislocated shoulder with his arm hanging low before returning to the ground, evidently with his shoulder back in its socket after pain-killing injections. But when Maynard stuck out his arms to brace from the fall and landed from the Pickett trip, his shoulder popped out again.
The second dislocation ruled Maynard out for the remainder of the match.
Pickett will also be scrutinised for umpire contact – which would result in a fine rather than a suspension – despite earning a free kick in the incident. Pickett appeared to nudge his Collingwood opponent into the path of the reversing umpire, creating the contact.
A similar incident occurred during Sunday night’s Carlton-Essendon game, when Bombers youngster Sullivan Robey drew a free kick for umpire contact. But Robey was fined by the MRO for having been the cause of the contact by his opponent.
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