Fremantle’s Nathan O’Driscoll reflects on career-threatening infection, uncomfortable contract negotiations and round 1 chances

Nathan O’Driscoll feared for his career last year after spending three weeks in hospital with an infection that turned his blood “brown and bubbly.” Now he’s eyeing a spot in Fremantle’s round 1 team.

If Nathan O’Driscoll ever needs a reminder of just how hard he’s had to fight to revive his AFL career, he only needs to look as far as the scar on his left thigh.

O’Driscoll feared for his career last year after spending three weeks in hospital with an infection that turned his blood “brown and bubbly.” He lost 10kg and all hope of featuring again in 2024, leaving him out of contract and at the crossroads.

It all started with a seemingly innocuous knee injury during a pre-season match against West Coast. That knock turned into a blood clot, which was only supposed to sideline him for a month after he had surgery to remove it.

But it quickly turned into something more sinister.

“People didn’t really understand how bad it was,” O’Driscoll said.

“I had to take myself to the emergency department.

“I originally had blood clotting in my leg and it was storing in my knee. I had it removed probably four times and came back in between and managed to play a couple of WAFL games early on.

“The last surgery I had on it, my whole leg got infected, basically up to my groin.

“I went home for a day and felt really sick the next day. When I got to hospital, they found out my white blood cell count was through the roof. It was a bad infection.

Nathan O’Driscoll is eyeing a spot in Fremantle’s round 1 side.

“The blood they drained on that Saturday was brown and bubbly. It was pretty scary. I genuinely thought I was in trouble.

“I had emergency surgery that night to clear up the blood clot and infection and now I’ve got a pretty significant scar to show for it.

“All sorts of things were going through my head. I thought ‘I’m not going to play footy again this year.’ I was obviously out of contract at the end of the year and I thought I was going to get delisted. But a lot of people wrapped their arms around me. I was lucky to recover, not quicker than they thought, but once I was out of hospital, the (strength and conditioning) got me going pretty quickly.

“They still don’t know what caused it so it could happen again. That’s the scary thing. But I just have to stay positive.

“It is what it is. I had a pretty down year … a pretty crappy year to be honest. It was a mental battle.”

Nathan O’Driscoll has fought back from a frightening infection. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

O’Driscoll played five WAFL games late in the season before forcing his way back into Fremantle’s senior team as the sub against Greater Western Sydney. The 22-year-old played a full game against Port Adelaide the following week, finishing with 20 disposals and a goal.

After the Dockers failed to qualify for finals, he played a vital role in Peel Thunder’s WAFL premiership, averaging 26 possessions throughout the finals series.

Somewhere in between, O’Driscoll was in the thick of contract negotiations with Fremantle.

In a frank admission, he said he seriously considered interest from Port Adelaide before accepting a revised contract offer to remain at the Dockers.

Nathan O'Driscoll, that is a big time finish 🤯#foreverfreo#WAFLGFpic.twitter.com/LdI4FIwIVl

— Fremantle Dockers (@freodockers) September 22, 2024

“I wouldn’t say I was always committed to Freo,” he said. “I wanted to stay.

“There were a lot of factors, things like will I get a game here? I knew how hard it was to get a spot in the team and how many people were fighting for it. Money was a factor as well as the length.

“There were a lot of things in the contract (offer) that I wasn’t happy with initially. I just worked through it with my manager.

“I wouldn’t say it was an amazing deal but I love the club and I love the people so it was enough to make me stay. I want to cement my spot this year.”

Nathan O’Driscoll vies with Kozzie Pickett for a mark. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

With a new perspective on football, O’Driscoll has spent the pre-season rebuilding his body.

He’s put on almost 5kg to give himself the scope to play both inside and outside midfield as he fights for a spot on the wing with Jeremy Sharp and Jaeger O’Meara.

“If I can do that, there’s more of a reason to have me in the team,” O’Driscoll said. “I want to add that string to my bow so we can do different flips and confuse the opposition.

“It gives the team more flexibility. Putting that (weight) on was a big focus.

“I was doing a fair bit of running every week during the off-season and pre-season. But I was also doing a lot of gym stuff.

Nathan O'Driscoll played 12 games in the WAFL last season, his averages were:
20.4 disposals
66.7% disposal efficiency
43.5% contested possession rate
3.3 marks
3.4 tackles
96 #SuperCoach

Available for just 198k in 2025. Jump on, everyone. Welcome aboard.

— Damo (@DamoSC) February 15, 2025

There was no stopping Nathan O'Driscoll 💨#AFLFreoPowerpic.twitter.com/3TIRkW0hT6

— AFL (@AFL) August 25, 2024

“The work I was doing was a lot more explosive and power-related instead of just putting on kilos. I naturally put them on. That relates to my game. I like to be speedy and break out of stoppages.

“I spent a little bit of time in there (against the Indigenous All Stars). I would’ve liked a little bit more but I got 10 minutes or so.

“My number one role right now is wing but I’ve had an uninterrupted pre-season so far and hopefully that can keep going leading into round one and I can cement my spot.”

So will he be there come round one?

“It’s really hard,” O’Driscoll said. ‘We’ve got a couple of injuries at the moment in Fyfey (Nat Fyfe) and Youngy (Hayden Young).

“I would like to think right now I’d be in the team. I think I’ve had a strong pre-season and played pretty well today.

“I can keep building and leave them no reason to keep me out of the team.”

Originally published as Fremantle’s Nathan O’Driscoll reflects on career-threatening infection, uncomfortable contract negotiations and round 1 chances