Former St Kilda ruckman Lewis Pierce waiting for offers from state league or local clubs
Lewis Pierce was hoping his phone would ring off the hook with offers from local or VFL clubs after he was delisted by St Kilda, but the ruckman fears his absence from the field because of concussion has potential suitors assuming he has retired.
Victorian Football
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Yes, Lewis Pierce missed most of the 2019 season with concussion issues.
But no, the delisted St Kilda ruckman has not retired from football.
Pierce, 24, says his phone has stayed silent since the end of the season and he suspects it’s because clubs believe he has walked away from football.
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“I haven’t heard from any VFL clubs, WAFL clubs, local clubs … because I didn’t play all season because of the concussion, people presume I’ve retired,’’ he said.
“That’s definitely not the case. I ended up coming good at the end of the season. I passed all my (concussion) tests and stuff like that. I’m totally fine, ready to play again.
“It’s been a bit frustrating. I was hoping the phone would ring and I’d have a bit of choice of what I want to do. But yeah, I haven’t had too many calls. I just want a few offers.’’
Pierce won VFL club Frankston’s best and fairest in 2018 and entered this year as St Kilda’s No 1 ruckman.
It was seven years in the making, he said.
But in a JLT Community Series match against North Melbourne his head was “slammed’’ on the ground after he was tackled.
Pierce passed a preliminary test by the St Kilda club doctor and was selected for the Round 1 match against Gold Coast Suns.
He said he quickly noticed he “wasn’t 100 per cent’’.
“Not wanting to admit there was something wrong … as you know, I’d been playing in the VFL for a number of years and to finally get the opportunity, you don’t want to let it go … my mindset was, ‘This spot’s mine, I’ve finally got it and I’m not letting anyone else have it,’’ he said.
“You want to run through a brick wall to make the most of it. But I didn’t have the best game and went back to the twos (VFL).
“I didn’t want to say anything. I played at Sandringham and was well off it again. I thought I’d better go and tell the doctor. I said, ‘I’m sick, I think I need a week off’. Then we did some more testing and he wasn’t about to let me play. We did some more testing and found out there were some more serious issues. So all up I played two games and a quarter for the year.’’
Pierce said he had of feeling of “not being all there’’ as he ran on to the ground for the Round 1 AFL match.
“A lot of guys will tell you it’s hard to verbalise how you feel,’’ he said.
“I remember I went out with ‘Skroba’ (Saints assistant coach Adam Skrobalak) to do some centre bounces to warm up before the game and he said to me, ‘Are you OK mate?’
“I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m fine’.’’
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After the game he sang the wrong words in the club song. He brushed it off as fatigue.
Pierce, a Mt Eliza product who went through the Dandenong Stingrays and played five games for the Saints after being drafted in 2012, said the rest had done him well and he had no lingering issues.
“I’m 100 per cent mate,’’ he said.
He said he would be happy to speak to state league and local clubs about 2020 — and his mind is also open to an AFL comeback.