Port Adelaide’s Tobin Cox was told his season was over after suffering a serious kidney injury, now he's preparing for a grand final
Port Adelaide forward Tobin Cox was in “10 out of 10 pain” after Round 12 this season, now he is preparing for Sunday’s grand final against his former club.
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THE pain hit Tobin Cox like a sledgehammer.
Then the panic set in.
As the first-year Port Adelaide forward lay in the club’s Alberton Oval changerooms during the second half of the Magpies’ round 12 clash against West Adelaide on July 7, he wondered just what had gone so horribly wrong.
The 20-year-old had felt a piercing pain shoot through his lower back when he was tackled by a Bloods player and his elbow jammed into his body when he crashed to the turf.
After the initial shock, Cox got to his feet and started running to the next contest when he struggled to breathe and walked straight to the interchange bench.
“Michael Wilson, our physio, was down in the rooms with Tobin and he said he'd never seen anyone in so much pain,’’ Port development coach Chad Cornes said.
Cox described his pain level as “10 out of 10’’.
“They gave me the ‘green whistle’ (pain relief inhaler) but that didn't do anything for me, I was still in agony,’’ Cox told The Advertiser.
“I couldn’t breathe properly and every time I would take a breath I would get this sharp shot of pain through the kidney region.
“So I would try to take slower breaths and then some panic set in. It was pretty scary and I was sooking a fair bit.’’
Cox, who is in his first year on the Power list after being recruited as a rookie from this week’s SANFL grand final rival Glenelg, was taken by ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
“I had a urine test and it was full of blood, so I knew I was in trouble,’’ he said.
Scans revealed a lacerated left kidney.
The swelling had pushed onto Cox’s diaphragm and caused his breathing difficulties.
Cox was transferred to the Royal Adelaide Hospital and surgery — possibly to remove the kidney — was being considered before the bleeding stopped.
“It was scary because there was a chance I could have lost the kidney,’’ he said.
“But fortunately the split didn't go all the way through the kidney and once the bleeding stopped naturally I was told it would heal with rest and recuperation, so I got lucky there.’’
Cox spent three days in hospital and lost 6kg in weight.
His surgeon told him his football season was over, that he wouldn’t be allowed to do any exercise for six-to-12 weeks and had to avoid all physical contact work for six months.
“So I thought that was me done for the year,’’ Cox said.
“Then, a few weeks later, we sought another opinion and I got lucky again.’’
A specialist said Cox’s kidney was healing faster than expected and he was given the all clear to slowly start a comeback attempt.
Having lost so much weight and been so weakened by his freak injury, he initially could not even walk up stairs.
But by round 18 — the last home-and-away series of the season — he was cleared to play again and made his comeback at Elizabeth Oval in seven-times Central District premiership coach Rory Laird’s final game in charge.
On what he described as a “special day’’, Cox booted a career-best five goals and took nine marks in the Magpies’ thumping 90-point win.
“It was a bit weird because I hadn’t trained a lot and was a bit unfit, so I wasn’t expecting to do that,’’ he said, adding that doctors had told him he should have no lingering issues from his kidney injury.
“It was certainly good for my confidence.’’
The highly-skilled Cox — renowned for being a deadeye dick in front of the sticks — played in Port’s qualifying final win against the Crows, kicking an unusually-inaccurate 2.5, including five consecutive behinds.
“The ball was going everywhere,’’ Cox recalled.
“But neither me or the coaches were too worried about it because I’m one of the best kicks at the club, so I just thought the next week I’d be due to kick straighter.’’
He missed his first two shots against his former club Glenelg in the second semi-final but kicked the one that really counted — cooly slotting home from 40m after taking a strong mark to put Port 10 points clear in the dying stages before it held on to win by four points.
“It was a pretty good mark and goal to finish it off,’’ said Cox, who has returned to his regular playing weight of 83kg.
“It felt a bit funny to do that to my old club but it was good because you always have a bit of extra passion when you’re playing against your old team.
“They were giving it to me and I was giving it back.’’
Cox, who Cornes said reminded him of former Crows star Jason Porplyzia because of his tricks and “beautiful finishing’’, played just two league games for the Tigers, both in 2018, before being drafted at age 19 at pick nine at last year’s rookie draft.
Long considered a golden talent, injuries stopped him from being drafted sooner as he underwent two surgeries on his right shoulder in the space of 18 months.
Originally from Naracoorte in Glenelg’s southeast country zone, the 177cm Cox now has his sights set on a putting the exclamation mark on his remarkable comeback.
“After thinking I was done for the year, to win a premiership would be amazing,’’ he said.