VFL 2018: Liam Hiscock overcomes cancer scare to make inspiring VFL debut for Casey Demons

LIAM Hiscock had to overcome testicular cancer last year. He made his VFL debut for Casey Demons last Saturday.

In his third year in the VFL and at his second club, Liam Hiscock last Saturday played his first senior game.

In striving for a state league debut, the Casey Demon had encountered the usual obstacles to selection: form, injury and, particularly at an aligned club, opportunity.

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Last year Hiscock, 20, faced a far more serious problem. He was found to have testicular cancer.

Halfway through the season the tall defender felt a lump on his left testicle.

He immediately went to his GP. A day later he received the diagnosis. Four days later he underwent surgery at Cabrini Hospital in Brighton. Weeks of chemotherapy followed.

“It was a blur,’’ Hiscock said.

“To find that out when you’re 19 … it was a massive shock. I had no clue it was going to be anything like that, like a tumour, and it turned out to be an aggressive tumour. Just thankful I went and had it checked out straight away, because finding it early made a big difference.’’

Liam Hiscock marking for St Bedes/Mentone Tigers in the VAFA this year.

Told there was a 40 per cent chance the cancer would reoccur, Hiscock decided to have the testicle removed.

“They said if I wanted I could have a prosthetic one put in,’’ he said.

“But I left it. Happy to have the one now, be the old one ball bandit! Don’t care at all about it. Don’t give two stuffs about it now that I’m healthy.’’

Football, Hiscock said, helped him through his ordeal.

He said the prospect of regaining his health and resuming at Casey was a lifter.

It happened a few months after the surgery, and when he turned up for pre-season training his teammates made a fuss of him.

“It felt real good, the way the boys made me feel,’’ he said. “It was amazing to get back to the rooms and be welcomed back like that. I couldn’t think of any better place to be. Everyone was so good to me.’’

Liam Hiscock of Casey Demons.

Hiscock, from Beaumaris, attended Mentone Grammar and played for Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup. In 2016 he joined VFL club Sandringham. A year later he crossed to the Casey Demons, following assistant coach Danny Ryan.

After eight matches in the reserves last season he had gained five mentions in the best players and was pushing for senior selection. Then came the cancer diagnosis.

“I still don’t even know what I thought when it happened,’’ he said.

“From when they told me, I didn’t really have time to sit and dwell on it and wonder what would happen. I was like, ‘OK, what’s the next course of action, what can we do to nip it in the bud?’ Obviously it was a massive shock, but I was sort of more worried about doing what I needed to do to beat it. I tried not to think about anything else.’’

Without the Development League, Hiscock has been playing at St Bedes Mentone in the VAFA this year, patiently waiting for an opening at Casey.

It came last Saturday, after a few Melbourne players dropped out of the team.

He was heartened by the words of coach Jade Rawlings, who told him he had earned his position by training hard and playing well in the amateurs.

Casey assistant Sammy Radford presented Liam Hiscock with his jumper.

Demons assistant coach Sammy Radford presented him with his jumper, setting off a roar of approval from the Casey players. Hiscock’s family watched on.

“I talked about the journey he’d had to get to senior level,’’ Radford said this morning.

“Everyone has a different one, and Liam’s had been challenging.

“I mentioned that I’d watched him play for St Bede’s a few times this year and that he’d been holding down a key defensive post as a young kid in A grade and what his teammates were likely to see from him in the game. That is, he’s a very good teammate, super competitive, great voice and they’d enjoy playing with him.’’

Hiscock, a commerce student at Monash University, will long remember his debut. Casey finished furiously at the Geelong stadium, kicking five goals to two in the final quarter to pinch a three-point victory, its 10th on the reel.

“Incredible day,’’ he said. “To be part of something like that was pretty special.’’

CASEY COACH JADE RAWLINGS ON LIAM HISCOCK

“When I first met Liam he was bald, completely bad, because he’d just completed treatment (chemotherapy). His positivity and his energy just blew me away. I drove back up the highway from Casey thinking, as far as quality of character, he’s someone you’d really want to work with. He was determined to get back to normal. As summer went on I spoke to him about at some stage him having to move on from Liam Hiscock the cancer survivor to Liam Hiscock the footballer, and he handled that really well. He’d been playing consistently at St Bedes Mentone and he was ready for his chance. And he played a solid game on the weekend for us.’’

Jade Rawlings.