Adelaide Crow Paul Seedsman opens up on the painful battle he thought could end his career
ADELAIDE Crow Paul Seedsman thought that his footy career might be over - that he could be washed up at age 25 because of chronic groin pain.
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PAUL Seedsman thought that it might be over.
At just 25 and being best known for winning the Anzac Medal in 2015 when he starred for Collingwood against Essendon at the MCG, the long-kicking wingman was so sore and so frustrated in his second year at Adelaide last year that he wondered whether he would play AFL again.
“It got pretty serious there for a while,’’ Seedsman revealed in an exclusive interview with The Advertiser.
“It definitely got to the stage where I thought I might not be able to play again.
“I was on the phone to my old man (John) talking about some possibilities post-football.
“Being out of contract this year I knew I only had 18 months (left of a deal) and that if I couldn’t get back on the track my time could end pretty quickly.
“So I was looking at avenues outside of football and possibilities for the future.
“Dad put me onto a couple of contacts through his work (the cosmetics industry) and there were options for an internship.
“I had to look at the cold hard reality that sometimes football doesn’t work out how you want it to, that they were the cards that I had been dealt.
“But thankfully for me things turned for the better and I was able to get back on the field.’’
Seedsman, who joined the Crows on a three-year deal at the end of 2015 from the Magpies where he played 49 games in four seasons, played 15 matches in his first season at Adelaide.
But a badly-corked buttock saw him end his first year in the Crows tricolours on the sidelines and hid some groin issues he was starting to have.
“The left side of my groin had started to flare up, become painful, but was sort of put on the backburner because of the corky,’’ Seedsman explained.
“After having some time off at the end of the season I started doing some pre-season running but the pain in the groin was still there.’’
Seedsman’s groin was so bad he could barely jog.
He was put on a rehabilitation program and after nearly four months of what he described as a “slow build’’ he was close to rejoining full training before his right groin blew up.
“It was back to ground zero,’’ Seedsman said.
“I started to question whether I would ever run pain-free again. Every time I tried to run the pain would get worse and worse and my running numbers on the track continued to come down.
“One day I’d be able to run 4km, then I would be down to only 3km and it got to the point where I couldn’t even do straight-line running.’’
The No. 76 pick at the 2010 draft was sent to Melbourne to see hip and groin specialists.
He was diagnosed with scoliosis in his lower back.
Seedsman’s hips – which had twice been operated on when he was at Collingwood in 2014 and 2015 – were twisted. And one was slightly bigger than the other.
This caused his groins and adductor muscles to be out of synch, with too much stress being put on his groins.
With surgery ruled out as the best option – “I’d had two surgeries on my hips and was told another operation would leave me prone to arthritis later in life,’’ he said – Seedsman was told to focus on strengthening the muscles (abductor and adductor) around his groin, hip and back areas.
“The bottom line was that the way my body was structured it wasn’t strong enough to cope with the demands of AFL footy,’’ he said.
Seedsman was so down in the dumps in the middle of the season he became angry and questioned whether he would still be able to play the game he loves. The Crows sent him away from the club for four days to “reset’’.
“I’d had a pretty steep decline physically and mentally because there were times that I thought I was close to playing again and then I’d have a setback,’’ Seedsman said.
“We really didn’t have any answers and I did become angry and frustrated because I didn’t feel that I was getting anywhere. So the club told me to get away and relax for a few days, take my mind off everything and reset.’’
When he returned to the club, Seedsman’s strength exercises started paying dividends and he made his first appearance of the season in the SANFL in mid-June.
He forced his way into Adelaide’s AFL side for the round 19 clash against his former club Collingwood at the MCG and after three more weeks back in the local league he played in the round 23 clash against West Coast. He kept his place in the Crows’ finals side and played in the grand final loss to Richmond.
While the Big Dance ended in pain for Seedsman and his team-mates, he had sown the seeds for what would become his best-ever pre-season.
Now 26, Seedsman started training earlier than required, joining the first-to-fourth year players at their first session, and he has not missed a beat.
For just the second time in his career he has played the opening three games of a season. And with 45 minutes of strength and exercise work, including pilates, before every training session to keep his body functioning he says he has never felt fitter and stronger.
He was awarded seven AFLCA votes for his standout, 26-disposal, two-goal display against St Kilda last week.
“I remember talking to “Pykey’ (coach Don Pyke) when things weren’t going well for me last year and I said, ‘hopefully we can look back at this time as a turning point in my career because of the extra strengthening work I was able to put in’,’’ Seedsman said.
“Clearly my body needed it and so far, touch wood, it’s done the job.’’
Behind enemy lines
PAUL Seedsman is one of the rare breed of modern-day players who has managed to live out a boyhood dream by playing for the team he grew up supporting.
Seedsman was a passionate Collingwood fan whose favourite player was brilliant small forward Leon Davis, who he trained with in his first season at the club in 2011 following his drafting from Victoria's Eastern Ranges TAC Cup side.
But when it comes to playing against his former club, Seedsman treats Nathan Buckley’s outfit like any other opponent.
“It can feel a bit strange at times because when I was younger Collingwood was everything to me,’’ said Seedsman, who has played against the Magpies twice, winning in 2016 and drawing last season.
“But when you cross the white line every opponent is equal and you just want to play your best and help your team win.’’
Adelaide will meet Collingwood in Friday night's Adelaide Oval blockbuster and Seedsman says, having left the Pies at the end of 2015, that there are only a handful of players he still keeps in touch with because of the big list turnover of AFL clubs.
“Three years down the track the majority of my mates have left the club,’’ he said, adding he sought a trade to Adelaide because of the lack of opportunities.
“I still chat every now and then to a few of the boys, particularly Adam Oxley who I kicked around a little bit with, and Jamie Elliott, while when I get back to Melbourne I catch up with blokes like Steele Sidebottom over a beer.’’
A keen golfer, Seedsman said while leaving Collingwood was “tough’’, it’s a decision he has never regretted.
“I couldn’t be happier with the decision to come over here (Adelaide), the club has been unbelievable from top to bottom,” he said.
“It’s the best decision I’ve ever made, moving away from friends and family, because it’s challenged me in all aspects of life and helped me grow as a person.’’
Seedsman is out of contract at the end of the season and is desperate “to stay around’’. “Hopefully I can let my football do the talking for me,’’ he said.
andrew.capel@news.com.au
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