Sam Docherty’s recovery was no miracle, the gun Blue is a mental goliath, his mates say
In the midst of another cancer battle, inspirational Carlton star Sam Docherty only had one thing on his mind. It stunned his mates.
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Sam Docherty sounded insane.
The devastating diagnosis that his testicular cancer had returned was still raw when Docherty divulged to good mate Dylan Buckley that he had eyes on Round 1.
“I was like, ‘What the f---?’” Buckley told News Corp on Wednesday.
“How is that something that we’re even talking about right now?
“You’ll be talking to him as he’s going through cancer or another knee reconstruction and say, ‘Oh f---, this is pretty hectic’.
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“But then he’ll come back with, ‘I just need to get back, get fit and get ready for Round 1, because that’s around the corner’.
“That’s the craziest thing about him. No matter what he’s been going through at the time he’s never lost faith or confidence.
“And when you surround yourself with someone like that you can’t help but walk taller and walk stronger.”
When Docherty finished another 12 weeks of chemotherapy, his second cancer battle during lockdown, he requested a round of golf with Buckley.
The figure that stepped on to the fairways was a far cry from the chiselled ball magnet with slick hair that Blues fans have loved watch bouncing out of the back half.
Docherty was a sick boy.
Grand final teams often point out the pitfalls of starting their summer one month later, yet here was a chemotherapy patient attempting to squeeze in an AFL pre-season while eradicating his body of cancer and making it to the Round 1 line.
“They took a photo of us (playing golf) and I looked at that photo yesterday versus him now and I was just like, ‘How the f--- has this guy done this?’” Buckley said.
“Because I remember it was really confronting seeing someone go through chemo. It’s really, really tough to see. He was a lot skinnier and quite pale.”
Mental Goliath
Former Blues assistant Dale Amos, who formed a close bond with Docherty over the past six years at Princes Park, agreed that an AFL return in March would be beyond him.
“Physically I saw him deteriorate, lose a lot of weight and look incredibly sick through his period of chemo,” Amos told News Corp.
“But to see him come out the other side and put the weight back on and his hair grow back and every time I caught up with him just to see how much stronger he looked and how much healthier he was.
“Physically, there’s been a huge transformation. But mentally not much has changed.
“He was going into the chemo thinking he was going to be able to come back and play, and I don’t think anything changed.
“That’s the type of person he is. He’s very motivated and highly driven to succeed.”
Well, Docherty is making a habit of proving people wrong because dreams do come true.
The linebreaker will be lighting up in front of a crowd of 80,000 at the MCG against Richmond on Thursday night.
Amassing 38 disposals in a VFL practice match – he had nine in the first 15 minutes – underlined why Docherty’s diligence deserved to be rewarded.
Rewind to November, 2017, and the selfless signs were evident in the inner sanctum.
Docherty had just delivered Carlton its first All-Australian jumper since 2011 when his left knee buckled at training.
The dashing defender’s 2018 season was gone long before it had started.
Amos remembered a bloke who refused to cry poor me.
“The fact that he did it at training, had the scan, found out the news and was back at training helping out on the Thursday epitomises how he’s been,” Amos said.
Docherty would have to wait 936 days to play again after suffering a second knee reconstruction the following pre-season … playing just one match before coronavirus shutdown the AFL season for a further 12 weeks.
Plenty panicked as the pandemic set in.
Docherty, who had just spent his two seasons on the sidelines working as a quasi-assistant coach, sounded refreshingly pragmatic as jobs in the industry disappeared.
“It’s probably the first time for a number of years where I’ve started to second guess whether footy is my sole future,” he said in 2020.
“I’ve always thought I’d go into coaching and an assistant role, but … I’ve reassessed whether that’s going to be a viable plan.”
Smart man, Doc. After all, this was a member of the AFL Players’ Association board talking.
Sense, style and a streak of toughness, it is no wonder the Blues love this bloke.
Humble Beginnings
Those qualities have been evident since Docherty’s first pre-season camp in Arizona when his father, Eddie, died from a heart attack.
It was Eddie who convinced Docherty to grow up a Blues fan in Phillip Island and their annual pilgrimage to the MCG for games against the Tigers were memorable.
“We didn’t have a whole heap of money to be able to go to games in Melbourne regularly, so when we did make the odd trek it was a huge occasion,” Docherty once wrote in the Herald Sun.
“A minibus was organised and about 12 of us would meet at the junior footy club in Cowes before all piling in and heading up to the big smoke.
“There would be a designated driver and all the dads would have a few too many beers and a bunch of us kids would excitedly take in the match.
“Those bus trips remain among some of my fondest childhood memories and, now playing for Carlton, I’m always reminded of those days each time we face the Tigers.
“The memory of dad is a big part of what kept me going through my two ACL tears.
“He was a big Carlton fan and a huge football person, so to have a son in the AFL was always a source of pride for him.
“Winning the Blues’ best and fairest and becoming a club captain has meant so much to me because it means my surname is etched in the Carlton history.
“That means his legacy is etched to it as well, and always will be.”
Buckley struggled to find words to match Docherty’s character.
“It’s just inspiring,” Buckley said.
“When you look up ‘resilience’ and you look up ‘mental strength; and all those words in the dictionary, there’s a photo of him.
“The way he carries himself through all these sorts of things is just unbelievable.
“It’s just incredible how every time something happens there’s never even a blink in his eye that it’s not going to work out.
“It’s like this unwavering resilience, which is pretty incredible.”
Where does Docherty get it from?
“I think when you’re him and you go through so many things like he does there’s only two ways you can go about it,” Buckley said.
“You can be bitter or be better and he’s obviously taken that ‘get better’ approach every time something hasn’t gone his way.
“He had some family tragedy losing his father, he’s gone down with knee reconstructions twice and unfortunately had two bouts of cancer.
“But everything he does he handles and just says, ‘Let’s do it again, let’s keep going’.”
The line of admirers for Docherty would go close to matching some of the queues outside the MCG on Thursday night.
Blues on Doc
Harry McKay: “One thing you know with Doc from the outside walking in, you wouldn’t know that he’s been through so much. He’s such a positive and amazing person”.
Adam Cerra: “He’s a massive inspiration to footballers and everyone. His story is incredible. When I first got there he was in completely different shape to what he is now. To see him over the pre-season proving people wrong, pushing the limits and seeing how he attacks rehab is inspiring.”
Patrick Cripps: “One thing you will never understand is what he went through. Anyone that knows Do knows he’s a resilient guy, he’s one of the most caring guys I know. Six months ago you could only dream of (a playing comeback)”.
When Docherty raised $220,000 for Peter Mac as his Blues brothers shaved their heads in support even ex-teammate Zach Tuohy got involved.
“For those who have met Sam he is a person of the absolute highest calibre. He’s tough as nails,” the Geelong star said.
Voss’ incredible story behind Doc round 1 return
Former skipper Sam Docherty is providing Carlton with a fairytale start to the season by overcoming cancer to play in Round 1.
When confirming Docherty would play against Richmond on Thursday night, new Carlton coach Michael Voss admitted he didn’t think it was possible when he first met the defender in early October.
At that stage Docherty, an All-Australian in 2017, was going through chemotherapy after being diagnosed with a second bout of testicular cancer in August.
“It’s an incredible story,” Voss said.
“One of the first things I did when I was appointed was go around and visit Doc and he was in treatment at that particular time.
“I sat on the park bench and just talked about life, talking about where he was at and what he wanted to do and he said, ‘I want to play Round 1’.
“I couldn’t believe that he was actually even thinking about that, I tried to give him some encouragement but I was thinking, ‘This would be remarkable if he could do that’.
“And here he is. It is really testament to the person and how resilient he is and how determined he is.”
Docherty has forced the coach’s hand after impressing throughout the pre-season which included gathering 38 possessions in his first hitout with the Blues VFL team.
“It really is incredible as at the time (I met him) he had lost a heap of weight and at the time he was in full treatment,” Voss told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“To see his steady progression was quite amazing and it wasn’t all smooth sailing, some hiccups along the way but he persisted through it, he kept going and he has been able to get his body working and put himself in position to do it.
“He has fought so hard. We have had a lot of chats over the pre-season and to see him fit and healthy and walking out there for Round 1 just seems right, it really seems right.
“It wouldn’t seem right launching this new journey without him but it’s all him, as you can see just his power and strength, being able to return to his playing weight.
“He puts himself in a position to play so I know the boys will really love walking out with him.”
Docherty, who shared the captaincy role with Patrick Cripps for three seasons, was first diagnosed with testicular cancer in November 2020 but fought back to play 14 games last season.
A routine medical check-up in August last year revealed the latest cancer occurrence.
Backline shake-up: Star firming as Tigers ponder double debut
—Chris Cavanagh
Richmond co-captain Dylan Grimes is firming to face Carlton on Thursday night and lead a new look backline which will include at least one debutant.
Grimes has made a better than expected recovery from surgery on a fractured left thumb last week and will be given every chance to line up in the Tigers’ season-opener.
The 30-year-old trained on Sunday and now only needs to get through main training on Tuesday to face the Blues.
It is understood medical staff had feared a risk of infection, but Grimes’ wound from the surgery has healed well and he has been able to complete light ball work on the track with the support of strapping.
“We’re a bit more positive about him than we were, but nothing’s been decided yet,” Richmond senior advisor Neil Balme told News Corp on Monday.
“If I had to guess, I reckon he might make it. But there’s no certainties.”
The news is not so good for fellow backman Nick Vlastuin, who is all but certain to be ruled out with a minor hamstring issue.
Vlastuin’s expected absence opens the door for key defender Josh Gibcus to make his AFL debut.
Coincidentally, the 196cm Gibcus was the Tigers’ first top-10 draft pick since Vlastuin in 2012 after being taken at pick 9 in last year’s national draft.
Gibcus has impressed during the pre-season under the guidance of experienced pair Grimes and Robbie Tarrant and logged 13 disposals and two marks against Hawthorn in the AAMI Community Series.
It is believed that Richmond has also been weighing up whether to play a second debutant in the Round 1 backline, with Tom Brown firmly in the selection mix.
The son of former Geelong footballer Paul Brown, the rebounding defender was the Tigers’ second pick in last year’s draft at No. 17 and is viewed as a player with enormous upside.
Richmond chose to play Brown in a VFL practice match instead of their final pre-season game against the Hawks to ensure he played enough game time to be considered to face Carlton.
Brown is expected to earn a debut in the early rounds if he is overlooked for Round 1.
Richmond midfielder Jack Graham has put his hand up to play on Thursday after training strongly again on Sunday, but is more likely to return against Greater Western Sydney in Round 2 after missing both pre-season games with a hamstring injury.
“He hasn’t been ruled out but he hasn’t played, so it would be a bit of a risk,” Balme said.
The Tigers are yet to make a decision on the short-term future of Kane Lambert, who is facing the possibility of hip surgery which would sideline him for an extended period.
Pies gun suffers injury scare on eve of season
Collingwood utility Will Hoskin-Elliott will need to prove his fitness at Wednesday’s main training session after suffering an injury scare on the eve of Round 1.
Hoskin-Elliott left the training track early on Monday, with the Magpies later confirming he had “tweaked” his hip and groin.
Club medical staff did not deem the injury to be of major concern and Hoskin-Elliott was not sent for scans.
He will instead be monitored on Tuesday and will need to get through training on Wednesday to prove himself ahead of Friday night’s clash with St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.
Hoskin-Elliott played 20 games last season, starting as a forward before being moved up to a wing in Round 9.
The 28-year-old averaged 15.7 disposals and kicked 13 goals for the season.
Collingwood has a relatively healthy list entering its season-opener with the exceptions of key defenders Jordan Roughead (shoulder) and Charlie Dean (foot).
Roughead is expected to miss the first month of the season, while Dean is unlikely to be available until the middle of the year.
Geelong recruit Nathan Kreuger will miss Round 1 under AFL concussion protocols, while star defender Brayden Maynard is sidelined for the first two rounds due to suspension.
Bombers to get funky to overcome forward line injury woes
Essendon could turn to a boy wonder who has barely played any football since 2019 to help manufacture a winning score against Geelong on Saturday after an ankle injury to spearhead Harry Jones.
Kaine Baldwin is a contender to replace Jones in the goalsquare in what would be a fairytale for the 194cm forward who was overlooked in the 2020 draft on the back of two knee reconstructions.
Before that Baldwin shaped as a top-five pick, captaining South Australia’s under-16s and averaging 9.6 marks and 2.8 goals in state colours.
The wildcard got his chance at Tullamarine last year as Essendon’s mental skills coach David Reid helped allay Baldwin’s fears of suffering a third ACL injury as he closed in on a scratch match return.
Jones, 22, is likely to miss multiple matches, leaving the Bombers without three of their top five goalkickers for a tough start to the season.
The Bombers have not confirmed a time frame for Jones, but it is understood he is a longshot to feature in the annual Country Game against the Cats.
Cale Hooker has retired while Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti is a little way off after taking a break for personal reasons during the summer.
They start the season against Geelong, Brisbane Lions and Melbourne – three teams which finished last home-and-away season in the top four.
A fast-tracked debut for Baldwin would be widely celebrated although Peter Wright would be the safer choice as the focal point against the Cats and supported by a band of small forwards.
Veteran and dual All-Australian defender Michael Hurley has been training forward, where he will provide relief if he is able to restart his career.
Jake Stringer, the man who exploded to become the club’s most damaging player in the second half of last season, is a certain starter against Geelong despite missing both pre-season games with groin soreness.
Essendon has not beaten Geelong since 2018 and lost four out of their past 22 games against one of this century’s great teams
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