PORT ADELAIDE defender Hamish Hartlett has revealed the news of his season-ending knee injury brought his mum to tears, but he says he’ll use his rehabilitation period to show young players around the club how to deal with adversity.
Hartlett has had surgery to repair his damaged Anterior Cruciate Ligament which ruptured during an innocuous training incident last week, ahead of his side’s win over North Melbourne.
And the 27-year-old has outlined the poor run of luck that resulted in his injury.
“The irony is that I wasn’t even on the sheet to train for starters because of the head knock and the little shoulder AC joint injury I sustained in the incident with Paddy Dangerfield (against Geelong the week before) so I wasn’t supposed to train in the first place but I said to the guys I was pretty keen to train,” Hartlett said during an interview on FiveAA.
“It was a Thursday and I hadn’t done much in the lead up to that session.
“The drill that we were doing was only supposed to go for about ten minutes but we decided that we weren’t executing it the way we would have liked to so we extended it for a few minutes and in that extended period I got a handball from Jake Neade and I was sort of in the air as I received it.
“I landed on my left leg and went to pivot off my right leg to get around Jared Polec, who was applying a bit of pressure to me, and just in that pivoting motion I think my boot got stuck in the turf a bit and all the force and pressure that was going through my knee as I was twisting was a bit too much and the ACL snapped.”
Hartlett said he knew immediately the injury was serious, and it was obvious to those around him as well.
“I didn’t cry but I think my Mum did, and my Dad, my brother
“The frustrating part of it all is that from the last part of last year to the start of this year I’ve probably put together 20 of the most consistent games I have done in my whole career so for it to happen now is pretty devastating.”
Hartlett is now preparing himself mentally for a long and lonely rehabilitation period.
The long-kicking half-back said he is taking a positive approach to the layoff.
“I think as the season progresses and I’m missing more and more footy it’ll sink in a bit more,” he said.
“I’ve had incredible support from everyone and I’m ready to attack the rehab as soon as possible and get back fitter and stronger for next season.
“I think I have a big role to play around the club with some of the young guys.
“Going about my rehab in a professional sort of way might be able to inspire these young guys when they do face adversity from time to time.”
Hartlett said he was interested in working on his commentary, after doing some commentary work during the AFLX tournament earlier in the year.
He also revealed he might spend some time in the coaching box.
“Kenny has certainly suggested that’s an option for me,” he said.
“Coaching is something that does interest me so I could look down that path.”
Hartlett’s positivity in the face of adversity has been remarkably impressive, and he was even able to joke about who will look after him around the house.
“I’ve got Billy Frampton living with me at the moment so big Bilzo is going to have to pull himself away from Fortnite, the PlayStation game, from time to time to give me a feed or take my shoes off or take my socks off.”
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