Richmond premiership player and Team of the Century forward pocket Dale Weightman is on the path to recovery after collapsing and fracturing his left ankle while playing golf in Mildura last week.

Affectionately known as ‘Flea’, the 274-game great of the club who is a type 1 diabetic, sustained the injury after his blood sugar levels dropped during an early morning round of golf.

Weightman had emergency surgery to remove some bone and insert screws into the ankle and will be in plaster (as shown in the photo he sent through today) for 10 days, before requiring a further six-to-seven weeks in a moon boot.

"It would have been a little bit scary,” Weightman told The Age.

“When I got back and came to, I was fine. What I normally do is, I decrease my insulin so I can get through the game. What I didn't do was decrease it enough.

"It was a big walk around and it was hot, so it was a bit of management that went wrong ... that sometimes happens. This is the first time it's happened this bad to me. It's a bit of a wake-up call."