Comeback caps a fairytale season
OF all of the things that went wrong for Geelong in 2006, none came close to the magnitude of Tom Lonergan losing a kidney.
In just his seventh AFL game, Lonergan was backing into an oncoming pack when he was collected by Melbourne forward Brad Miller.
It wasn’t until later that night that problems began to emerge for the young defender, with the blood loss he suffered forcing doctors to place him in an induced coma.
Geelong captain at the time, Tom Harley, says Lonergan’s health and wellbeing was the main priority for the Cats, with a return to footy barely discussed.
But when he made his comeback the next year in the VFL on a wet Sunday at Kardinia Park in a curtainraiser against Tasmania, it added to what Harley describes as a fairytale year for the club. “Tom was a hugely popular player among the group,” Harley said.
“The game he had the sickening injury he was really starting to find his feet.
“The coaching staff had tried to experiment with him down back and he had earned his spot through really strong VFL form, but he looked really assured in that first half against Melbourne.
“The enormity of what happened after that incredibly courageous act was unbelievable and his welfare was obviously the primary concern for everyone. A return to footy was not necessarily at the forefront of anyone’s mind, but when he did come back to play in the VFL in 2007 with the protection of the guards, it just gave everybody a lift.
“2007 was a bit of a fairytale year all around because the senior team was flying and so was the VFL team.
“The VFL team won a premiership the week before the AFL grand final, so nearly every player on the list was a premiership player.
“Tom kicked six goals and won the Norm Goss
Medal as best on ground, and that was really emotional. If a team needed a lift going into a grand final, he certainly provided part of that.
“For him to ultimately end up a premiership player in 2011 was just reward for what ended up being a remarkable 200-game career.”
Lonergan played as a forward for the Cats in 2008, but Harley’s retirement at the end of 2009 paved the way for him to return to the backline, where he settled for the remainder of his career.