Sore Will saves sympathy for Mark
07 February 2007 Herald-Sun
Bruce Matthews
IT WAS understandable young Richmond defender Will Thursfield should feel sorry for himself after being sidelined again last week.
He cursed the procedure to remove two metal pins from his repaired left knee and being ordered to back off training for a fortnight.
However he realised it was a small thing on Monday when rehab mate and mentor Mark Coughlan shocked the Tigers by telling them a fresh knee injury would cost him the season.
"I was pretty quiet for the rest of the day," Thursfield said at the Tigers' camp base at Cowes yesterday.
"We did our rehab together. He's such a role model because he does everything right.
"He's pretty quiet and I knew he was having a few problems, but I didn't realise it was that bad,"
Thursfield, 20, is fighting back after tearing cruciate and medial ligaments in his left knee in Round 2 last season.
He'll sit out Richmond's first major practice match at Wonthaggi today, but he's on track for the opening rounds.
"I was happy how I was going when I did the knee," he said. "Lenny Hayes tripped over and fell into me and smashed my knee backwards.
"I knew it was bad from the outset. I heard a lot of noises and it wasn't pretty.
"Everything is going well. I was fully training until last week when I had the pins out.
"That set me back a couple of weeks, so I'm just jogging.
"I'll need a bit of time to get the match fitness and the smarts back."
Thursfield has kept the pins as a souvenir.
"I took them into the club to show the boys how big they were because I reckon you could hold the back fence up with them," he said.
He said it was tough to watch the football last year and by about Round 15 he was fed up.
"I was on my feet, running and it was frustrating not being involved," he said.
While the Tigers conducted clinics at Meeniyan and Foster in south Gippsland yesterday, Thursfield joined Joel Bowden on hospital visits at nearby towns as part of the AFL's Community Camps program.
The former Sandringham Dragons defender, restricted by injury to only seven games in two seasons, said he had felt a bit lost in some of the practice games.
"It should come back pretty quickly," he said. "Everyone has been reassuring me of my standing in the club because you doubt yourself. You see all the young guys going well and you can't do anything."
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