TIM Smith says a recent heavy knock, which forced him to spend a week in hospital, “definitely hasn’t” dented his confidence to play at the highest level again.
The hard-at-it key forward suffered the injury, when he copped a knee in the chest from star Richmond defender Alex Rance in a contest, during the ANZAC Day Eve match at the MCG in round five.
Smith said the injury was simply “one of perils of playing AFL football and one of those things that happens”.
“For me, I’m more motivated and excited to get me back into the game and being part of the team,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“I’m going well now. I got back into running on Tuesday, so I’m running this week and get back into contact next week.”
“Hopefully, I’ll be up for selection in two weeks, I hope, as long as everything goes well and I can run fine – that’ll definitely be the barometer for me.”
Reflecting on the incident, Smith said he was fully aware of what happened when the collision took place.
“I was coming back and trying to take a mark and I got kneed in the ribs,” he said.
“When I was on the ground, I was just trying to assess what was going on. I thought I was winded, but I couldn’t breathe.
“After about 20 seconds, I couldn’t get my breath back and then once I got up, I realised I’d broken my ribs, because they were quite painful. The doctors then knocked me out with medication and then I was in the Epworth Hospital for the next week.”
The 26-year-old, who was selected at No.25 in last November’s NAB AFL Rookie Draft, said his punctured lung forced him to spend a week in hospital.
“That was the reason that I was in hospital for a week – just to make sure that it had healed up enough for the doctors to be happy to send me home,” he said.
“Now, it’s about just letting the ribs heal and how we deal with the pain and the uncomfortableness that it brings.
“It’s still sore and I probably notice it the most when I’m sleeping, to tell you the truth. I can’t lay on one side and it is a bit uncomfortable to sleep. Once I start sleeping better, I’ll be a lot happier.”
The first-year Demon has played a couple of AFL matches – round three against Geelong and against the Tigers – and was now determined to bounce back and add to his game tally.
“Hopefully this setback is the end of it all and I can get back into the side and string a few games together and really cement my spot in the side,” he said.
“The playing group and coaching group were fantastic at the time and there were plenty of messages and calls coming through – just to show their support, was top notch. They’re a top bunch of blokes and I really appreciated it at the time – it just shows where the club’s going.”
