CAT ZACH ON THAT WHACK
IT HURT BUT LOSING HURT EVEN MORE:
THE head is fine, but the ego is bruised.
My biggest concern after Thursday night’s match is not the bump I received from Taylor Walker, but the fact we lost a match we desperately wanted to win. But that’s footy. I remember everything about the bump and I’ve even watched it back to see what it really looked like.
I remember the ball bobbling around. I remember reaching out for the footy as it ran away from me. I was outstretched and exposed, and then the contact came.
It was a solid bump. I remember being on the ground and I remember getting up, thinking, “That shook me a bit”.
One of our doctors, Geoff Allen, came out and took me off the field for the concussion assessment, which is standard practice any time you get a knock to the head.
But the good thing was as soon as I came off the ground, I knew I was fine. There was never any doubt about coming back on. It was just a matter of going through the protocols.
It was the first time I’ve had to do one of the concussion tests in a game.
In pre-season we do a baseline test and the docs use that as a benchmark for when you have to do the real one in a game.
It is a series of co-ordination and basic memory tests to make sure all your faculties are intact.
One part is having words said to you and then repeating them back to the doctor. They gave me words including “elbow, apple, carpet, saddle, bubble”. You had to repeat it back to them at the time, then a few minutes later.
Then there were balance tests involving standing on one foot and closing one eye and all those types of balancing exercises that would be an issue if you were suffering from a concussion.
There was never any doubt, but they still needed to go through all the processes to tick me off.
So I go back out there and it proved to be one of those nights where we just didn’t make the most of our chances.
Skill execution is so important. These days, footy is a game of mistakes and it’s a case of which team can make the least.
The Crows had their periods when they were on top. We had our periods when we were on top. We just hurt ourselves with our turnovers.
It needs to be acknowledged that Adelaide is a very good side. I know the Crows probably haven’t had the year they would have liked, but they’re starting to get some good players back and they’ll continue to be a dangerous opposition — especially at Adelaide Oval.
The next few days are about recovery and snapping our routine back into a more traditional timeslot after back-to-back Thursday night games on the road.
Every match is so important at this stage of the year and Melbourne next Saturday is no exception.
That’s the beauty about this sport. There’s no dead rubbers, just big matches that mean so much every week.