Former Richmond forward Kayne Pettifer says his nightmare 2009 were the “the darkest 12 months” of his life.
Pettifer suffered a season-ending knee injury early in the season before he tragically lost his father in a horror car crash in country NSW in August.
The former No.9 draft pick was then delisted by the Tigers two months later as the club began a significant rebuild after finishing 15th with just five wins.
“On the 16th of August 2009, I’d just done my cruciate, I tried to come back because I knew I was getting to the end of my career and Terry Wallace had just been fired, so we had an interim coach at the time,” Pettifer told This is Your Sporting Life - For Tobin Brothers Funerals, Celebrating Lives.
“They were looking for a new coach and I knew from that time even before dad passed away that it would be tough to stay on at Richmond.
“There was talk of getting rid of 10-12 guys to clean out and start again, so dad and I had those discussions and I was confident I could come back.
“GWS were starting and maybe I could get a look in, but when dad passed away, I just wanted to get back up to Kyabram and stay with mum the whole time and my family – nothing else really mattered then.
“It was the darkest 12 months of my life.”
Pettifer booted 132 goals in 113 games in a nine-year AFL career, before enjoying stints with Kyabram, East Perth, Montrose and Montmorency.
He has won two of the last three flags with hometown team Kyabram in the Goulburn Valley Football League.
Listen to Peter Donegan's chat with Kayne Pettifer on This is Your Sporting Life, for Tobin Brothers Funerals – celebrating lives in the player below