Toil of the TigerPeter Hanlon
June 15, 2011WITH any long-term injury there are phases - the initial shock, the cold, depressing realisation, the drip-drip-dripping return of optimism as body is rebuilt, the tentative steps back to being the footballer you see on your personal highlights reel.
The worst cases add ''heartbreaking setback'' to the scenario. Nathan Foley has known them all.
''In a way, what's made him such a good player was almost a hindrance to him,'' Richmond assistant coach Wayne Campbell says, pointing to a single-mindedness and work ethic on a par with any he has seen. When a footballer doesn't know when - or even if - he'll next get to enjoy the weekly expression for all of that toil, darkness can descend.
''When you're injured for so long and dealing with it seven days a week, there's no doubt those sort of thoughts do creep into your mind,'' Foley said yesterday of the athlete's curse of self-doubt. ''It was a tough period.''
And how. At the start of this season, Foley had played just four of the Tigers' previous 30 matches. Doing everything and then some had taken him from draft reject to Victorian representative in little more than four years, but no amount of sweat could stuff his healing from the Achilles injury that piggy-backed onto an ankle reconstruction.
''I think anyone who's out for that long starts to doubt themselves,'' Campbell says of a complex ailment. ''He knew he could still play the game, he always knew he was going to get back, but there were times when he'd had so many setbacks.''
The counter-productive effects of pushing too hard while sidelined can be a hard lesson to learn. Foley sought remedies wherever the click of a mouse could take him, even contemplated a visit to Sweden and Craig Mottram's surgeon.
When asked what misfortune has taught him, he cites patience. ''Just make the most of when you're out there playing.''
Richmond's fitness and medical staff instilled the mantra. ''They went to extreme levels to make sure he was ready,'' Campbell says. Having seen him push cars through car parks to strengthen his legs in what amounted to a nine-month pre-season, nothing about Foley's commitment could surprise.
David King remembers him being up with the most coachable players he has seen, an asset to a football club because he challenges coaches and teammates alike to be better.
The former Tigers' assistant has keenly watched what Foley rates as a patchy return in his 11 games this year, but has no doubt that continuity of football will bring consistent reward. ''He's just a true footballer - he wants to play, it's his passion and his love and he's very, very good at it,'' King says.
''Once he finds his bearings he can be a player who'll do significant damage again.''
Campbell points to a career-best 40-possession game against the Brisbane Lions in round six as evidence of his powers and isn't surprised or concerned that he hasn't set the world alight every week after such a prolonged absence.
Foley admits it has ''taken a little bit to get going again, but patches during games, you start getting your confidence back''.
He notes that learning a new game plan has been an attendant challenge - Terry Wallace was at the helm when he was first injured, while Damien Hardwick was on Hawthorn's coaching staff.
At times it has felt like starting from scratch, but King thinks Foley is equipped to relish the transformation.
''The actual game's changed since Nathan's played a solid block of football, and it's changed in a fashion that suits Nathan,'' King says. ''He likes being in tight and in traffic, understands space and how to use his lateral movement to get through the press.''
On Saturday night at the Gabba, Foley will play his 100th game. He remembers the assurances of all around him that everything would work out, and is rapt to finally be converting their words into actions. ''That's what keeps you going.''
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