Richmond forward Jack Higgins to play his first game in 12 months after two major brain surgeries left him fearing whether he would ever walk again
He feared whether he would even walk again, let alone play football. But 364 days after his last game, much-loved Tiger Jack Higgins will make his AFL return. And a key official says we don’t know the half of what he went through.
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Jack Higgins “could hardly see”.
But after an “astonishing” recovery from two bouts of brain surgery and a raft of heavy effects, the speedy Richmond forward known as much for his “snags” as his zippy one-liners will tonight take the field for the Tigers.
And he can’t wait.
It has been 364 days since the 21-year-old’s last AFL game — a loss to Adelaide that also marked Richmond’s last defeat.
A lot has happened since then.
Struck down with headaches after a VFL game on July 14, Higgins suffered a brain bleed in which coach Damien Hardwick described at the time as an “abnormality since birth that reared its head”.
He was operated on and swiftly ruled out for the year, with another major surgery to follow in the weeks leading up to Richmond’s Grand Final victory.
“It’s quite astonishing, really,” Richmond forwards coach Craig McRae told the Herald Sun.
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“The more you know about his story, the more you understand how extraordinary it is. We don’t know the half of it.”
Higgins revealed in January that he had feared he may never walk again — let alone ever play football — after being faced with the prospect of surgery.
The initial headache, suffered after a match against Werribee, saw him without sleep for 48 hours with scans soon after revealing the extent of the issue.
“Five docs said ‘We need to get you to hospital ASAP, we need to get something out of your brain’,” Higgins said in January this year.
“I cried a bit when I heard the news, it was really disappointing and really scary when the neurosurgeon told me there was a lot of risks with the surgery. If he touches the wrong thing I I could be paralysed, never player footy again or even worse, I could die.”
The second bout of surgery in September — with the scars to match — saw him hospitalised for a fortnight with “some pretty bad things going through my head”.
“I thought I would never play footy again, probably thought I’d never be able to walk again and have to have a carer for the rest of my life,” he said.
“It was a very tough time of my life.”
Three months later and with a protective helmet, he returned to training, though McRae admits there was still plenty to overcome before the idea of playing could even be considered.
“He hasn’t (lost his humour),” McRae said.
“One thing that did come out post-operation was he struggled a lot with his vision.
“He could hardly see. He couldn’t read texts and things like that.
“The subtle things that we take for granted, but he couldn’t do a lot of stuff that he could previously.
“When he came back (to training), he would often say ‘I just can’t see that’.
“Just little things like he couldn’t see opposition. It’s a pretty important part of our game, to be able to see the ball and the opposition.
“But his progression … the time off and the healing from operations and coming to terms with his pre-season and everything – I think it was all very timely for him.”
McRae said the 21-year-old has made huge strides over football’s hiatus period having played one game of the pre-season competition.
If there’s been a big winner from the coronavirus shutdown, it’s Higgins, he said, with little to no debate on whether to play him against Collingwood tonight.
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“I look at him now (compared to the Marsh Series), and this 11 weeks off period that we had as an industry, I think that’s really suited him,” he said.
“He needed it, just for his own – maybe his mindset and his mentality, but also he’s a great trainer. He’s a great professional that prepares really well, and you could clearly see that he’d gained from the time off, physically.
“You look back at his pre-season and he didn’t do much pre-Christmas. He did half-sessions to get him through, so he comes back to training now and with three or four weeks of match play, he’s standing out.
“He’s really caught the eye.”
Higgins is one of two changes to the Tigers’ victorious Round 1 team, with premiership defender Bachar Houli also back in.
Tall Toby Nankervis has been omitted while forward Josh Caddy will miss the game due to calf soreness.
Hardwick said on Wednesday that Higgins’ hard work was “a testament to the lad” who is much-loved at Punt Road.
“His professionalism and his dedication to his craft is incredible,” he said.
“Any brain injury is significant and quite scary in nature and there was a chance that he might not have been able to play again.
“But his doctors and surgeons have done a wonderful job … and Jack himself has done a wonderful job in rehab to make sure he’s given himself every chance.
“The smile on his face when he found out he was playing was a great highlight for our playing group.
“He’s a very popular member of our side.”
There’s no holding him back with tonight’s MCG blockbuster an astounding exclamation point in his recovery.
“I’m excited to play,” Higgins said yesterday.
“I can’t wait for it. It’s been a long time coming. Can’t wait.”
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