The degenerative knee, which forced veteran Richmond midfielder Nathan Foley to announce his retirement from league football today, was 10 years in the making.
Foley revealed to former teammate Matthew Richardson, in an exclusive ‘Roar Vision’ interview, that he had damaged the knee initially when he was still a teenager.
“It stems from an injury when I was 19,” Foley said.
“I was lucky in some ways, the physios say, that I didn’t have significant symptoms for a very long.
“It was only recently that it did become an issue and something I really had to manage.
“That’s taken a lot of work to get through and, ultimately, it’s finished me up . . .
“The reality is it was going to be tough (to return to the playing field) probably a long time ago, but the physios, the ‘docs’ and the Club, were really respectful and gave me every opportunity to get back . . .
“The writing was on the wall, but it was important for me to come to the realisation and, I suppose, not die wondering.
“To be honest, on the back of a very small running session last week, it pulled up horrendous yet again, and probably in my own mind I knew that was probably it.”
Foley acknowledged the difficulty of telling his Tiger teammates of his retirement decision at the Club this morning . . .
“It was hard. I’ve been at the Club probably 12 years now and it’s been a huge part of my life,” he said.
“I think getting up to talk to your teammates, the blokes that you become so close with, especially the older blokes that have been there for so long, it’s a really tough moment . . . it makes it very final as well.”
The knee problem was just one of a host of injuries that Foley has endured over the past few years.
“It has been a real battle,” he said.
“Deep down, for me, it’s something that I’m pretty proud of, the way I’ve been able to put up with a few injuries and get the most out of myself, I suppose.
“I ruptured my Achilles in 2012 and that was a significant injury and took a lot of ‘rehab’ to get back.
“I did lose a lot of calf strength during that, which is a natural result from those sort of injuries.
“Around that time I had this degenerative knee bubbling away.”
Foley admits his decision to quit AFL football, and club he loves, hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but he believes the end of his battle with injuries will provide a sense of relief.
“In the next couple of days it will sort of be a nice weight off the shoulders,” he said.
“I can sit back and reflect on my career, and all the good times that I’ve had.”
