Western Bulldogs player Kirsten McLeod opens up on concussion and injury battle and why she was determined to play on

Four minutes into last season, Bulldog Kirsten McLeod broke her leg. It was her first game back after more than 18 months out with concussion. She opens up on how she fought back again.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 16: Kirsten McLeod of the Bulldogs celebrates a goal during the 2023 AFLW Round 03 match between the Melbourne Demons and the Western Bulldogs at Casey Fields on September 16, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Kirsten McLeod might well be the first player to ever ask to be started on the bench.

But after last season lasted just four minutes for the foundation Bulldog — after more than 570 days on the sideline before that, no less — just staying on the park was paramount.

This season, it’s been four games, not minutes, for McLeod, who considered more than once that football might be behind her after she suffered a broken fibula and a syndesmosis injury in Perth last October.

“I was stressing (in Round 1) that I wouldn’t make it past the first few minutes so I spoke to Burkey (coach Nathan Burke) and was like, can we start me on the bench? At least then I’ll make it past the first few minutes,” McLeod laughed this week.

She has to laugh, really. It’s the only way to really process what the last three years have held.

“At the end of the game, I think I realised the achievement that I’d actually made of getting back and making it through a game, which you sort of don’t take in the moment,” she said.

“I reflected on that one and it was a few days after that I sat down and was like, oh, wow, I made it through without getting injured and have got the season ahead.

It’s been a long road back to footy for Kirsten McLeod. Picture: Getty Images

“A lot had gone through my mind when I suffered the injury. As soon as I fractured it, and I sort of knew and felt like this is probably the last time that I step out onto a football field.

“And in Perth, as well – not even in front of my friends and family.

“It was an interesting moment, in the rooms and then the few weeks after that.”

McLeod, 29, had been given the green light to play just days prior to that October trip to Perth after more than 18 months of a concussion battle.

She had been driving at 110km/h on her way home from a VFLW game at Morwell when she lost her vision. That was the beginning, having landed on her head and neck during the game that day.

She didn’t want to say anything — but things weren’t right. Migraines, mainly, particularly during exercise, before a specialist recommended 12 months away from contact sport.

There’d been neurologists, neuropsychologists, neurophysiotherapists — as McLeod puts it, “neuro-this, neuro-that” — as she navigated a gruelling reality of ongoing symptoms and therapies in a bid to return to the game.

“It was really full on, and it was worth it to last year get that game day feel again,” she said. “Whether it was four minutes on the field or a full game, it was definitely worth being back out after a challenging 18 months.”

McLeod suffered a horror leg injury in October of last year. Picture: Getty Images

Every athlete reacts differently to concussion, which McLeod said even extended to “body knocks”.

“You get the whiplash and it rattles the brain. It’s very, very tough,” she said.

“Trying to figure out what’s a normal headache, what’s not a normal headache … it can get quite confusing as well.

“Coming back, I had a change of neurospecialists, as well, but I stuck with the one neurophysio who really helped me get back on track, which was really positive and I’m really grateful for that.”

Retirement was a realistic possibility, but McLeod was adamant she wanted it to be on her terms when the day came — not through injury.

The AFL is facing a concussion class action that is chasing more than $1 billion in compensation for current and former players who claim they have suffered personal injuries as a result of concussions sustained while playing the game.

It remains a prime focus for the league as it continues to endeavour to protect players from the effects of head knocks, with players now sidelined for a minimum of 12 days after suffering a concussion.

In some cases, like McLeod’s, symptoms endure far longer.

But the tough Bulldog doesn’t allow herself to think about what the future could hold in the wake of her fight.

She can’t.

“It’s a lot in the limelight about how everyone is 20 or 30 years down the track. I don’t really think about that too much,” McLeod said.

“If I dwelled on that too much, it would affect the way I would go about everything. It’s more the management post-concussion as well, rather than just the head knock itself.

Return? Tick. Now for a win. Picture: Getty Images

“It’s more around making sure you do the right things post – you go and see a neurophysio, a neuropsychologist, as well, to see if you’re still tracking the same, and if you’re not, what areas you might need to focus on.

“That’s the main takeaway from any concussion really, making sure you have that support and that you don’t go back until you really feel like you’re fully recovered.

“We don’t know enough about it. The AFL are moving in the right direction. The more we learn, the more we can do.”

One thing she desperately hunts in her long-awaited return is victory.

The Western Bulldogs return to their home at Whitten Oval on Friday night as one of three teams still without a win this season in a streak McLeod said they are determined to arrest against the Saints, at what she considers “the best ground in the competition” in both surface and atmosphere.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” she said.

“Especially in the last few weeks, and against Melbourne (in Round 3), when we apply our pressure, we can score off the back of that as well.

“If we continue to work on that and bring that to every quarter with minimal lapses, we can start showing it on the scoreboard and hopefully get some four points soon.”