Sydney Swans small forward Tom Papley is set to be sidelined for approximately six weeks following a calf injury sustained in the clash with Geelong.
Papley felt for his calf late in the game against Geelong, and the energetic forward, who sustained a similar injury in the pre-season, was comparing the two after his diagnosis.
“It was a bit of a shock, to be honest, because during the game, I actually was going to keep playing that last quarter,” Papley said on the More than Footy podcast, presented by Bing Lee.
“It’s sore so I was just expecting it to be one or two weeks but unfortunately, there's a little bit more than that..
“I think you've seen me probably five or ten minutes after I was being told I was out for six weeks. So I wasn't too happy.
“That’s footy and unfortunately, I've had a few injuries over the last few seasons, so I know what it's like. You've got to move on with life and get better,” Papley said.
Papley received the results of his scans on Monday morning and had taken some time to process the news.
While the injury news was deflating, the tragic news of Neale Daniher’s passing forced him to change his mindset.
“I was a bit flat yesterday but watching a bit of things on social media yesterday about Neale Daniher put life in perspective a little bit,” Papley said.
“I was just listening to some things he used to say and a few quotes about how he's talked about not sulking and getting on with life.
“I was pretty quick to move on after yesterday and come in today with a smile on my face and get to work again and see how we can get better as a team, myself as a player and also help develop young players.”
Listen to the full More than Footy podcast, presented by Bing Lee with Tom Papley below.
‘More than Footy’, presented by Bing Lee, features guests connected to the red and white family to chat candidly about the club, recent events in the AFL community with a Swans focus, recent game highlights, funny stories with and involving players. The show illustrates that the reach of footy extends well beyond the game on the field.
