James Hird has revealed a navicular injury he suffered at the start of the 1999 season almost ended his career prematurely.
The Essendon great, who played 253 games for the club before going on to coach the side for four years before he resigned at the end of 2015, suffered several serious injuries throughout his career.
Before his infamous facial injury in 2002, Hird suffered several navicular injuries which plagued him throughout his career.
Speaking on Corey McKernan’s Walk With Me podcast, Hird admitted that his third serious foot injury had him contemplating whether to call him on his career after just six seasons.
“The third time I did the same (navicular) injury in my foot crushed me mentally,” he said.
“It was a Thursday night before Good Friday, we played North Melbourne, it was Round 2 in 1999 and I couldn’t keep going.
“I was sore going into the game and I came off after the third quarter and thought for the first time that there was a chance my career could be done.
“I was listening to radio on Good Friday and every commentator and expert was like ‘he’ll never play again’ and that puts a seed of doubt in your mind.
“But a few days after that, I had the operation and thought I really wanted to have one final crack at it and if I don’t make it back, that’s how my career will go.
“The one thing in my mind was I was always going to come back a better player after the injury than I was before, that may sound silly but that gives you the motivation to keep training and get better.
“My view was that I’ll be better after the injury then I was before and that got me, fortunately I was able to play seven or eight years and win another premiership after that so it was defining, but I think it can define you in two ways – it can make you go down or make you go up.”
Hird also spoke at length about how he’s doing after his tumultuous coaching exit, while also opening up on advice he’s giving son Tom, who is currently on Essendon’s senior list.