Byrne relives his injury nightmare
THE Aussie Rules season will kick off without me at a packed MCG Arena here in Melbourne on Thursday night, but watching my Carlton Blues teammates preparing for the traditional curtain-raiser against Richmond has made me more determined than ever to get back out on the pitch.
I’m eight and a half months through a rehab programme for a torn anterior cruciate ligament and while it’s hard watching the lads training and playing games, there’s nothing like the first match of the season in front of 85,000 people to keep you motivated and focused.
I’d consider myself to be a fairly positive person, but the injury sent me to a dark place and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about packing it all in.
For the first few weeks I was barely able to leave the house. I was on crutches and strapped up into a brace for 10 weeks so I couldn’t bend or straighten the leg.
When the guys I live with were away training or out enjoying a day off, I was hooked up to an ice machine. I couldn’t drive or go out; I was even struggling to get my clothes on and off!
It didn’t help my mood that the injury struck me down after I had played 12 straight AFL games with the Blues and the Collingwood match it happened in was probably my best performance for the club.
It was a fairly harmless incident, but initially the pain was excruciating. Then after a few minutes it eased a bit and I remember being driven off on the stretcher cart thinking, there better be something seriously wrong with me or I’ll never live this down!
I spent three nights in hospital, which is unusual for an ACL tear, but the knee swelled up pretty badly so they kept me in to be on the safe side.
It was probably inevitable that I would spend a lot of time thinking about family and friends during those long days trapped at home.
You think about how it would all be so much easier at home, but Carlton really looked after me. I went under the knife a week after sustaining the injury and as soon as I was fit to fly, they sent me home for four or five weeks. The season was over, but they arranged for Enda King to look after my rehab.
Looking back now that period was so important. I was at home with two of the best in the business looking after me - Enda King, one of the top ACL experts in Europe...and my Mam!
Physically and emotionally it was exactly what the doctor ordered.
I reported back to Melbourne for the start of pre-sea- son in November, but when the rest of the squad were packing their bags for a gruelling pre-season camp on the Gold Coast, I was sent back to Ireland again for Christmas. I can’t say I shed a tear over missing the Gold Coast.
I landed back in Ireland the day before my brother Decky and Padraig Rath played for Leinster in the Railway Cup so it was great to be able to go and see that.
Being home for the build-up to Christmas was great too and I even got out for a few nights in Dublin and Dundalk.
But I was still following the rehab programme and working with Enda, and also Ciaran Murray in Dundalk.
Since I came to Carlton we’ve had three Irish players here, but Zach Tuohy’s contract wasn’t renewed at the end of the season so he moved to Geelong. Zach was a great support and help to me when I first came over here, but I suppose that’s professional sport for you.
Now it’s just me and Ciaran Sheehan flying the Irish flag. Ciaran was released from his contract so that they could re-sign him as a rookie, so that gives him another few years to make his mark.
For me breaking back into the ‘first’ team is my goal for 2017. Even one AFL game would make all the rehab worthwhile, but I hope to be back in full training and maybe ready to play for the Northern Blues in the VFL within two or three months.
That sounds like a long time, but when you’ve been through eight and half months of rehab and with the season starting, I reckon it will fly in.
Watching and hearing about Louth from afar does make you a little home sick. I came through minor and under-21 with a lot of the guys making a name for themselves now and they were flying until last Sunday’s defeat to Armagh. With a bit of luck they will bounce back against Tipperary on Sunday.
I do wonder what it would be like to be involved, but I also appreciate what an amazing opportunity I have here at Carlton. My resolve has been stretched to the absolute limit over the past seven or eight months but when I come out the other side I should be the stronger for it.