How a Hawk thought ‘don’t be a hero’ before becoming one; Wood opens up on ‘horrific’ clash

‘Don’t be a hero’: Why Sicily asked to go forward in match-winning move

Peter Ryan

It was Hawthorn skipper James Sicily’s request to coach Sam Mitchell that he be moved forward for the last quarter because of his injured ankle that led to the match-winning move behind the thrilling upset win over the Bulldogs on Sunday.

James Sicily was able to play out the match after dislocating his shoulder.

Having battled through two quarters after dislocating his shoulder in the opening quarter, Sicily realised he could no longer leap when he hurt his left ankle in the third quarter.

After having his ankle restrapped, he decided at the final break he could make a better contribution inside the forward 50 metres.

“I rolled my ankle pretty badly, and I struggled to jump. I jump off my left foot, so I thought ‘don’t be a hero’ and don’t be a liability down back. Sit deep forward and trust the guys back there,” Sicily said.

His trust paid off as the All-Australian defender kicked the final goal of the match after taking a strong contested mark inside 50, just hours after fearing his match had ended when he dislocated his shoulder landing awkwardly when making a brave attempt to mark. Along with the goal, he had six disposals and laid a tackle in what became a desperate last quarter.

“I was pretty lucky that there wasn’t any further damage [to the shoulder],” Sicily said.

“I was pretty scared. I’d never done something like this before. So I didn’t really know how it was going to feel. I think it was just pretty lucky the doctors got it straight back in. It was a weird sensation when it just goes back in. I think I got pretty lucky in the end.”

Hawthorn celebrated their upset win over the Bulldogs, coming from behind twice to snatch a win.

He said the win would build belief among the players that they were on the right track despite their disappointing results so this season.

Sicily said the team’s ability to arrest momentum after conceding the first three goals and their ability to halt the Bulldogs’ transition was a massive step forward for the team.

“Those sort of wins give you a lot of belief that you are doing the right sort of stuff. We have been under the pump particularly after last week’s performance,” Sicily said.

He also praised Jack Scrimshaw for his response to the public bake he copped from Mitchell at quarter time of last week’s 76-point loss to the Swans, saying it indicated a growing maturity.

“He’s become so much more mature. It’s more front and centre how mature he’s got, but he’s working very hard at it, and he just wants to be a reliable and a trusted teammate, and he is that right now,” Sicily said.

“In the past maybe responding to some direct feedback like that from Sam he could have gone into his shell.”

Don’t be so reckless: Lyon cautions Wood to take greater care

Jon Pierik

St Kilda star Mason Wood admits he was fortunate to escape long-term injury but says he has learnt from the “horrific” aerial collision that left him with a broken collarbone and concussion earlier this season, even if he can’t remember the incident.

Mason Wood, back in action against his former team, North Melbourne on Saturday.

Wood made a triumphant return with 20 disposals, 397 metres gained and a goal on Saturday in the Saints’ 38-point win over North Melbourne, following six weeks on the sidelines because of the injuries he sustained in the round-three clash against Collingwood at the MCG.

Play was halted for five minutes after Wood, having run with the flight of the ball kicked on the wing by Josh Daicos, attempted to spoil in a marking contest involving Collingwood’s Darcy Cameron and Saints’ teammate Zaine Cordy, both men storming towards Wood.

Cameron took the mark, but Wood crashed into Cordy and was flipped horizontally through the air, landing head-first. He was concussed, his collarbone broken.

Mason Wood (right) was concussed and broke his collarbone when he collided with St Kilda teammate Zaine Cordy against Collingwood in round two of the 2024 AFL season.

“This is shocking what we’re seeing here,” Seven commentator Brian Taylor said.

Play was stopped for five minutes, with Wood, 30, stretchered from the field. He was taken by ambulance to hospital.

“I looked at it that night when I was in hospital, but I haven’t looked at it since,” Wood told this masthead.

“It’s a tad reckless, to say the least. I read the ball so early, I went quick, I just should have pulled out because I wasn’t going to get there. Tactically, really good, but the last few steps, you just go: ‘I am not going to get there, so pull up’.

“But that’s the sort of stuff I base my game on; the intercept stuff and turnovers and that sort of thing. (But) I want to be five per cent more considered.”

Wood, who has revitalised his career with the Saints over the past four seasons after 65 games at Arden Street, understands the stigma that still exists in the AFL if a player is seen to have pulled out of a contest, no matter the impending physical and mental danger.

Wood, however, said he just wanted to have an “impact”. He said he had been unfortunate that it was Cameron, standing at 204 centimetres, who had gone for a mark, rather than a shorter player.

“A whole lot of stuff went really wrong, but it could have been a whole lot worse – a broken neck. A whole lot of stuff could have gone better, then it’s passing ships, I play the rest of the game, and we wouldn’t have even known otherwise. But that’s footy,” Wood said.

Mason Wood had run with the flight of the ball and had attempted to spoil, when he ran into teammate Zaine Cordy.

“If he (Cameron) was a shorter player … but it was a ruckman, so he took it that little bit higher. If he was shorter, I thought I may have had a chance to get a fist in. But he took it so high, and I missed him, and I got Zaine. It’s not Zaine’s fault, he shouldn’t have been worried about me going back like that.”

Wood said coach Ross Lyon had told him to take greater care.

“Ross pretty much said: ‘You know that is not what we are after, running back into traffic the wrong way’. But if that kick is a little bit shorter, I intercept it. If it is a little bit longer, I probably just pull out. It was right in that middle grey zone,” Wood said.

Wood’s partner was in Miami working at the time, and awoke to a flurry of text messages, but a voice message from Wood eased her worries.

“I say it’s worse for everybody else because once I came to, I was really clear from the start. I can remember everything, I can remember up until getting hit, that last split second. But as far as the concussion protocols go, it was nice to (have six weeks out because of the collarbone). I didn’t have to force anything. I did all the testing, but I was pretty good within two or three days,” Wood said.

“Although it was horrific, it was so much worse for my family and everybody else, than it was for me.”

Wood’s return, alongside that of key forward Max King and defender Jimmy Webster, has fortified the Saints, who will likely have the dynamic Liam Henry back from injury and in selection consideration for Saturday’s trip to Launceston to face Hawthorn.

The Saints posted their largest score of the season on Saturday (103 points) and their forward-half pressure was central to their strong performance, admittedly against an opponent now winless after eight rounds. They are in 13th spot, with a 3-5 win-loss record.

“We are probably down a classy midfielder without (Brad) Crouch, Hunter Clark, Paddy Dow,” he said.

“It’s never the wrong time to be getting guys back. We still have a lot of work to do, and this is not where we want to be at this time of the year.”

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