Henderson’s season hangs in the balance
STAR Torquay forward Billy Henderson concedes his season could be over after a freak clash with a teammate left him with serious head injuries.
Henderson said he would not return for the Tigers in the next month and could spend even longer on the sidelines as he recovers from surgery to repair a fractured cheekbone and eye socket.
“I’m just going to play it by ear at the minute,” he said of his prospects of returning.
“I’ll see how it goes for the next three or four weeks and go from there. As soon as I’m able to go back to training, I’ll do that, but I’ll just make my mind up when it gets a bit closer.”
When asked about the likelihood of playing again in 2018, given his Tigers enter Round 12 tomorrow, Henderson was uncertain.
“To be honest, I actually don’t know,” he said.
“As much as I want to, I don’t know. It’s pretty frustrating considering we’ve got a big month ahead.
“To miss that is the most frustrating bit. I have to sit on the sidelines unfortunately, and we have to win two of our next four to secure a spot in the finals.”
Henderson played no further part in the clash against Newcomb last week when he and teammate Sam Wormald were involved in a sickening head clash.
“There was a free ball and Sam and I both had eyes for the footy,” he said.
“I was that little bit lower and I hit the top of his head. He walked away from a lump and I walked away with a big black eye.”
Henderson also had two fractures around the eye and a small fracture in his cheekbone.
“We both got up straight away, but it wasn’t until 15-20 seconds later that I felt my eye closing over,” he said.
“I went to the bench and that was it.”
At halftime Henderson was taken to Geelong’s St John of God Hospital, where he received treatment.
“I had a CT scan and the surgeon left a vacancy for me on Tuesday and I got it all done nice and quickly,” he said.
“My cheekbone was pushed in towards my eye socket, so they pushed that out and everything slipped back into place. Then they put two plates in around the eye, one at the top and one down the bottom.
“It’s pretty good now. They’ve got me on some pretty good medication.”
After more than seven years of senior football, the 25year-old ball magnet said he was not accustomed to spending time on the outer.
“This is pretty much the first injury I’ve ever had,” Henderson said.
“I’ve never had surgery in my life.”