‘I was sinking in my seat thinking, oh, please don’t’: Why Jack Riewoldt nearly stayed in PerthMay 23, 2018
Josh Gabelich
FOX SPORTSJack Riewoldt just wanted to get out of Perth on Sunday. Richmond had been pumped at Optus Stadium and to make matters worse, the dual Coleman medallist copped a big bump from West Coast young gun Liam Duggan just before three-quarter time.
As the Eagles coasted away to a 47-point victory, establishing themselves as the real deal in the process, Riewoldt was left spitting out blood for the last quarter.
So when Richmond doctor Greg Hickey and Virgin flight staff held up the Tigers’ flight home by discussing whether or not Riewoldt could fly home, the premiership hero sunk lower and lower into his seat, which was, naturally, right at the front of the plane.
“I was sitting on the plane and I could hear the conversation happening behind me between the Virgin staff and our doctor,” Riewoldt said on AFL 360 on Tuesday night.
“I was sinking in my seat and just thinking, ‘oh, please don’t (prevent me from flying), all I want to do is get home — we lost this game of footy and all I want to do is go home to my own bed’.
“It all got cleared. People get iffy about the lungs and getting on planes. They were just doing their due diligence which is obviously their job. They backed our medical advice in and here I am today.
“I was already upgraded, I couldn’t have gone any further otherwise I would have been driving the thing. I paid for it too out of me own pocket.”
After overcoming the flight scare, Riewoldt is fine to play golf on Wednesday and fine to face St Kilda at the MCG on Saturday.
“I’m good as gold. I’ll play golf tomorrow, train on Thursday and play Saturday,” Riewoldt said
“I think what’s happened is with the compression of the hip, I’ve split one of the blood vessels either in my throat or in my lung and it is just a case of that.”
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It all happened when young West Coast midfielder Liam Duggan collected Riewoldt with an old fashioned shirt front, before the 29-year-old slotted two last term goals to finish with five for the day.
“I tried to put a bit of physical pressure on Liam Duggan and he got me straight down the middle of the chest,” he said.
“I think it might have been his shoulder; he just sort of flushed me in a bad spot and copped one. I had a mouthful of blood and spat it out.
“I was never in pain it was for anyone who has had a chiropractic adjustment it was like that. For the next half an hour I was spitting up a bit of blood.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/i-was-sinking-in-my-seat-thinking-oh-please-dont-how-jack-riewoldt-nearly-stayed-in-perth/news-story/ba778e9ac78a9683f24a7d2783b40393
