The untold stories of Jarryd Roughead’s fight back from cancer

NBA star Joe Ingles still marvels about the resilience of Jarryd Roughead as he fought the battle of his life, but one surprise act by the Hawthorn champ will sit forever with his good friend.

FOR all the myriad of things people did to support Jarryd Roughead in his battle against an aggressive form of melanoma last year, it was something the Hawthorn player himself did that will sit forever with his good friend, Australia’s NBA star Joe Ingles.

It came just over 12 months ago when Roughead was, quite literally, in the fight of his life.

He was battling not only the insidious disease but also the invasive drug treatment which would ultimately save his life.

His once powerful frame seemingly shrunk as the weight peeled off him, he was barely able to eat at times and his energy levels were constantly sapped.

TOP JOB: WHY RATTEN IS READY TO COACH AGAIN

SAM MITCHELL: A BRILLIANT PLAYER WITH A RUTHLESS STREAK

JAMES HIRD: IT’S TIME TO BENCH THE INTERCHANGE

Ingles, who has been a close friend and confidant since the pair met as teenagers at a basketball tournament, witnessed first-hand how sick he was, having sat with him through a number of treatments.

At this point, Ingles had flown out to join the Australian team ahead of the Rio Olympics.

It was a few days after the Utah Jazz star and wife Renae had welcomed twins, Jacob and Milla, into the world.

Roughead should have already had enough to deal with. But a mate is a mate, and he and his wife Sarah made the effort to visit Renae and the twins in hospital.

Jarryd Roughead mobbed by teammates Jack Gunston and Tyrone Vickery after kicking his first goal in his comeback against Essendon in Round 1 since being cleared of cancer. Picture: Michael Klein

Better still, he even took in two small Hawthorn jumpers for the babies, complete with Roughead’s No. 2 on the back.

A year on, Ingles still marvels about the resilience of his mate, who now thankfully has overcome the cancer and against plays his 250th game for Hawthorn, against Richmond at the MCG on Sunday.

“I was at the Olympics at that point, but he went in to see Renae and the kids a few days after, which says a fair bit about him (as a person),” Ingles told the Sunday Herald Sun.

“He was actually pretty bad (ill) at that point. It was right when his treatment started and for him to make that effort, you don’t expect him to do that at all, knowing what he was going through.

“It was awesome for Renae to see some familiar faces. I think he (and Sarah) spent more times with the twins in the first week or so than I did.”

Ingles will be there in support, watching from a box.

With him will be a dozen of the footballer’s mates — a group who have followed his story from the local football oval in Leongatha (which runs through Roughead Street) to four premierships with Hawthorn, the captaincy of his club, and through two cancer battles he prefers not to talk about.

Good friends Joe Ingles and Jarryd Roughead. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

His brother, Cam, and other family members will be there today, too, as Roughead becomes only the 14th Hawthorn player to reach 250 games.

It’s a milestone some feared he might not reach and an achievement that almost rivals Round 1, the feel good story of the year, when Cam missed a couple of friends’ engagement parties for his sibling’s emotional return to football.

“That night was special, we probably had about 30 or 40 family and friends come down (from Leongatha),” he said. “It was special to see him back out there.”

Roughead has been more than just out there for the Hawks this season.

Only nine months on from the news he was again free of cancer, he has been a driving force — as a first-year captain — in Hawthorn’s in-season revival.

Roughead’s manager Craig Kelly, from TLA Worldwide, has been a part of that journey almost since the start.

Kelly says he will never forget the barbecue he and his wife, Meredith, threw at home for his 2004 draftees.

“This big, lanky, freckly, redhead turned up and straight away he talked and engaged,” Kelly said.

“‘Moo’ (Meredith) has this radar for good blokes and he passed immediately.

“Roughy is never going to change, that’s the nice part of his character.

“The only area where he has changed a bit is that he used to be very black or white about things, but sometimes you need to be a bit grey to get a result.

“I think with all that has happened over the last few years, it has made him more balanced.”

Roughead announced as Hawthorn’s captain for the 2017 season. Picture: Michael Klein

Kelly doesn’t want to dwell on the past, as he knows that’s not what Roughead wants, but he does say the Hawks star was driven by the people who had supported him through an exceptionally difficult period.

“He just realised he didn’t want to finish (AFL) that way,” Kelly said.

“He and Sarah did everything in their power to get back (playing).”

“The thing that people don’t understand, and he probably wants it that way, is that there were a certain number of amazing people who know who they are at that club who did more than they ever needed to do and gave more than they ever needed to give.”

Cam Roughead saw the level of care and comfort first-hand.

“The support was incredible, whether that was from the family, from friends, from the club,” he said.

“People just left cooler bags out on the front porch with lasagnes and whatever else they could do.

“It was good to know there was that level of support, whether it was needed or not.”

The treatment was the hardest thing for Cam Roughead to bare, seeing his seemingly indestructible older brother almost literally shrink before his eyes.

“The main thing I got out of it was to remain as positive as we could be,” he said.

“For him to see people around him getting upset was probably a hard thing to do; it was all about trying to stay positive.”

There was one instance, when he drove his brother into Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, that really tested his resolve.

“Footy wasn’t even a thought in our minds (at that stage),” he said.

“It was like, ‘First, we need to get you better mate’. I had never seen my older brother in the situation he was in, and it was tough.

“It was after a couple of bouts of treatment. He really couldn’t eat and he had lost all that weight.

“But that’s when the shoe is on the other foot and you have to step up and help him in whatever small way you could.”

Roughead leads the Hawks out for the first time as captain. Picture: George Salpigtidis

Ingles also saw him at those levels, and marvelled at how positive his mate stayed through the process, and how committed he and Sarah were to claiming their lives back.

“I knew I couldn’t walk in there and change things, and do something the doctors couldn’t do, but it was a long process (of treatment), so to have the opportunity a few times of being there with him and just sitting there and having a chat, hopefully it was able to take his mind off things a bit.”

Before the treatments started, Ingles grabbed the Roughead brothers tickets to last year’s NBA finals series between Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers — a sporting event the one-time junior basketball star and US sport lover had always dreamt of attending.

“There is not much you can; I am not a doctor, I had no miracle cure or anything like that, so to be able to help out in any small way, that’s what I was always willing to do,” Ingles said.

“I knew (Andrew) Bogut and he was able to help out. It was good for him and Cam to go and have a life experience that he wouldn’t otherwise (because of football commitments) have been able to do for a number of years.”

Roughead all smiles when he was unveiled as the Hawks’ new captain. Picture: Michael Klein

The experience still brings a smile to Cam’s face.

“Once he got the diagnosis, his mind just flipped and he was like, ‘I need to go and do this when I can’,” Cam said.

“He had always wanted to do it and it all happened quickly, but it was an incredible experience.”

The brothers were meant to come home after Game 6, but when the series went to Game 7, they made a snap decision to stay.

Even before they were able to secure tickets to the game — thanks again to Bogut and Ingles — they were frantically working the phones to change their accommodation and flights while at Greens Sports Bar in San Francisco.

“We were sitting in the pub on the phone working on the flights and all that stuff, but it was all worth it,” Cam said.

Cam said the moment Roughead told the family he was cancer free last December was liberating for them all.

“It was just a relief to be honest,” he said.

“To see the smile on his face and on Sarah’s face, and the old man (their dad) as well, they were the most important things.”

“He missed six months, which is a period of time, but now he can concentrate on the rest of his life.”

For Ingles the message that Roughead had beaten the disease came in a FaceTime message.

“I figured it was just one of our regular calls to see how things were going,” he said.

“He was like, ‘I’m clear (of cancer) and I’m good to go.’ I was just so happy for him and for Sarah, for them to be able to move.

“I guess it is always going to be there, but for him to be able to get back to footy and to his life, is great. He just wants to be normal again.

“When he had the cancer, he felt like everyone would stare at him and look at him differently. He just wanted to be that regular guy from Leongatha again.”