MELBOURNE'S co-captain Jack Grimes admitted he feared the worst as he left the track after falling heavily on his shoulder last week at training.
 
"When I was walking back in (to the club rooms) it wasn't a great feeling because all that was going through my head was like 'This can't be a long term injury; surely not, it just can't happen'," Grimes said.

A day before the incident, the 22-year-old had reflected with enthusiasm on his first game back after nine months without football.

"I knew my body was up to it and I was ready to go. It was just that it had being nine months between gigs (so) it was a little bit nerve-wracking but I felt really good out there," he said.
 
Then before training on Wednesday his coach had said how pleased he was with Grimes and how the coaches were looking forward to building up his time on the ground during the NAB Cup.
 
That optimism all changed when Grimes hit the deck after clashing with teammate Troy Davis. "It was just one of those unlucky incidents at training I guess where you get collected by your teammate and land awkwardly," Grimes said.
 
Luckily in this case the player's initial fears weren't realised, with Grimes likely to miss just two NAB Cup games.
 
The relief was particularly acute for Grimes, who has played only 32 games since making his debut in the last round of 2008.
 
"The first thing that went though my head was I thought I'd stuffed it," he said.

"I thought it was pretty bad, the initial pain, it felt pretty serious so I was, yeah, pretty worried initially. When I got up and went inside and saw the docs and the physios I was able to - once I cooled down - start moving it around a lot more.

"It was actually feeling pretty good after the first five or six minutes or so and I felt like I could get back out and train."
 
By that time however Grimes was behind closed doors and the news he had been injured was spreading.

A photo by AFL Photos' Michael Willson had been published on the AFL website, and Fox Sports cameras filmed Grimes writhing in agony on the ground.

Although tweets and online reports did not exaggerate the situation, friends and family of Grimes were concerned enough to try to get in touch with him.
 
"I could not believe how quickly the news spread," he said.
 
It was one of those days as within one mad hour the Lions' Jonathan Brown suffered his third facial injury in less than 12 months and Fremantle reported a setback for Anthony Morabito, who had missed 2011 with a knee injury, leaving football watchers in shock.
 
But inside Demon headquarters, considered discussions were happening between Grimes and the Demons medical staff as the young defender's mind raced through the scenarios.
 
"They (the medical staff) were just trying to get it inside and get ice on it straight away but I was obviously asking a lot of questions because I was bit worried," Grimes said.

"They were really reassuring. They obviously told me all the possibilities but they thought it was going to be fine as well. (It was) just going to be a banged up bruised shoulder and I was going to be all right.

"That was reassuring - hearing it from them - but you are never really sure. Until you get the results of the scans back it is a nerve-wracking wait."
 
He had the scans at 5pm then found out the results just before 6pm.

Grimes said he missed the doctor's initial call and was nervous when he rang back to find out what had happened.

It was a huge weight off his shoulders when he received the news.

For the Demons, although there was disappointment that Grimes was missing two weeks, there was a collective sigh of relief that things weren't worse.
 
Grimes can have a nervous chuckle about the events immediately following the injury but doesn't want a repeat anytime soon.

"I don't know how many times I got asked how my shoulder was that day," he said. "They (teammates) were really supportive because it is never good to see a teammate go down like that.
 
"As a player, it's never a good position to be in, that's for sure."