Tiger veteran feared his career was overPeter Ryan
afl.com.au
February 16, 2014 9:00 PMRICHMOND veteran Chris Newman feared the worst when he landed awkwardly and injured his knee on Friday night against Melbourne.
The 31-year-old heard a click when he landed with his leg straight and was reluctant to move the leg or test it as he sat on the ground. He sensed that the club doctors and physios were, in his words, panicking a little bit.
"My career flashed before my eyes when I was on the deck there. It was a bit of a scary moment," Newman said.
"After about 30 seconds on the ground it felt OK and I was able to walk and almost run off the ground."
He was relieved when the doctors told him the knee was structurally sound after they assessed the damage in the rooms.
"It did look bad. I think it looked worse than what the actual result is. It's a pretty good result, probably the best result – just a bit of bone bruising – so hopefully within a few weeks I'll be ready to go again," Newman said.
The former skipper said he planned to be available for round one and hoped to have a final hitout in the club's last practice match for the season.
Richmond plays Essendon at Punt Road on Friday March 7 before the season opener against the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium on Saturday March 15.
Newman said it was difficult to determine the rate of healing with bone bruising but he club estimates he will be out for between two to four weeks.
With that scare behind him, Newman is relishing the prospect of playing forward more often this season. He finished 2013 playing in the forward half and has trained this summer to be used inside 50. He kicked the first goal of the match on Friday night.
Newman said it presents a new challenge for him and will keep him mentally fresh as he enters the twilight of his career. He has kicked just 40 goals in 233 matches and has played most of his career as a defender. He has kicked at least one goal every season since 2003.
"I enjoy sneaking forward and hopefully I can contribute on the scoreboard," Newman said.
He admitted the Tigers were very disappointed with their first-up performance against the Demons and had been poor defensively.
Although he said it was a reminder the team needed to improve in plenty of areas, they entered the season with high expectation.
He said finishing in the top four was one of Richmond's aims.
"You certainly don't want to go into a year without expectation," he said.
The Tigers finished seventh last season after losing to Carlton in week one of the finals, having finished the home-and-away season fifth on the ladder.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-02-16/newmans-career-fear
