Updated ,first published
Melbourne forward Brody Mihocek temporarily lost feeling in some of his limbs after being knocked out on the MCG against his old side Collingwood, but after neck scans was sitting up in his hospital bed asking to listen to the rest of a classic King’s Birthday clash on the radio.
Mihocek was in the Alfred Hospital on Monday night with his wife Polly, and was in good spirits as he awaited results of the scans after the Demons’ eight-point victory in front of 88,019 people.He had full movement in his arms and legs, fingers and toes.
Mihocek suffered the potentially serious neck injury after landing head-first into the ground in an awkward tackle by former teammate Billy Frampton during the second quarter.
Frampton won a free kick from the tackle when Mihocek slipped as he tried to duck the oncoming defender. His head appeared to strike Frampton’s knee before the pair went to ground in the tackle and Mihocek landed with the top of his head into the turf.
When the Collingwood players went over to wish their former teammate well, he looked up at his close friend Jack Crisp and smiled, then gave him a thumbs up.
It was Mihocek’s first game against his old side. He had hugged Crisp before the teams jointly ran through a banner, then was arm-in-arm with Crisp as the clubs formed a circle to pay tribute to the former Melbourne coach after his recent death to Motor Neurone Disease.
“It is difficult to see,” Crisp said of the injury to his friend.
“I saw him before the game and he had a smile on his face, we are best friends so to see that happened it gets your emotions going.
“And after [Mihocek’s] recent concussion as well it didn’t look good but when we all went over to wish him well he looked at me and smiled, he was in good spirits.
“He was moving his arms and legs I reckon just to make sure everything was OK, but he had a smile on his face when I looked at him on the way past which made me feel better.
“It was the first time playing against him and every time we ran past each other on the field we were bumping each other so we were having a bit of fun out there, but that happens which is quite sad, so we really wish him the best.
“It was hard to refocus but then the game moves so fast as well so getting together as a team we tried to reset ourselves and focus again. I still thought about it again through the game as well, as most people did.”
Crisp said Frampton had been trying to corral Mihocek when the pair became entangled.
“Billy was OK, he was talking about it before. It was an accident, it was just the way they went to ground. ‘Checkers’ slipped when he tried to corral him and Billy was really careful with his tackle, hence why he got the free kick, but it’s just unfortunate in footy,” he said.
Play was stopped for more than eight minutes as Mihocek was treated on the ground by the Melbourne doctors and the AFL physician.
Demons coach Steven King confirmed Mihocek had temporarily lost feeling down one side.
“All our thoughts are with him at the moment,” King said.
“He’s getting scans and we’re just waiting to see what happens there, but fingers and toes are crossed for him.
“We’re obviously concerned. It didn’t look great and when you see a player go down with issues around the head and neck, that’s serious.”
Although Frampton was awarded a free kick the match review officer will inevitably look at the incident for a dangerous tackle given the potential severity of the injury.
He will also face scrutiny by the MRO for two incidents.
Pickett appeared to trip Collingwood defender Braydon Maynard, who had earlier been off with a dislocated shoulder with his arm hanging low before returning to the ground, evidently with his shoulder back in its socket after pain killing injections. But when Maynard stuck out his arms to brace from the fall and landed from the Pickett trip his shoulder popped out again.
The second dislocation ruled Maynard out for the remainder of the match.
Pickett will also be scrutinised for umpire contact – which would result in a fine rather than a suspension – despite earning a free kick in the incident. Pickett appeared to nudge his Collingwood opponent into the path of the reversing umpire, creating the contact.
A similar incident occurred during Sunday night’s Carlton-Essendon game, when Bombers youngster Sullivan Robey drew a free kick for umpire contact. But Robey was fined by the MRO for having been the cause of the contact by his opponent.
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Michael Gleeson is an award-winning senior sports writer specialising in AFL and athletics.Connect via X or email.
