Tasmanian Brody Mihocek still recovering from punctured lung in Collingwood’s round one win over Bulldogs
Tasmanian Magpie Brody Mihocek has a new house, a new talent, a bad haircut, and cannot wait for the AFL season to resume.
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FEW people knew Brody Mihocek punctured his lung in Collingwood’s round one humiliation of the Western Bulldogs — and that included the big Pie forward himself.
They breed ‘em tough on Tasmania’s North-West Coast and Mihocek, a product of the Burnie Dockers in the Tasmanian State League, thought it was just another knock.
He played out the game as the leading goal kicker on the night with three majors from eight marks and 11 touches.
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The 27–year-old mature-age rookie was one of five Pies to rack up more than 300m gained against the Dogs — Jeremy Howe (433), Jack Crisp (349), Brayden Maynard (423), Jordan De Goey (320) and Mihocek (317).
He walked off wondering why it was hard to breathe and two days later being unable to jog even lightly threw up another red flag.
The injury happened in the final term when, like every other AFL big man, Mihocek backed into a marking contest without fear of the consequences.
“I copped a knee in the back of my right side and initially I felt the hit and I was on my knees for a bit,” Mihocek said.
“At the time I thought it was just another knock and I’ll hop up and get going.
“Near the end of the game my chest started to tighten up but I didn’t think much of it.
“I had the next day off from the club and the day after that I tried running and it hurt every step.
“I had a bit of a cough and it is not a good time for that to be happening with the coronavirus stuff going on.
“I got a scan and I remember the doctor saying I wasn’t going to be playing the next game or possibly the game after that, and all I could think of was I would have to miss a game.
“I’m still having trouble now with certain movements.
“It’s a slow process but I’m getting there. I had a scan on Monday and it’s still not fully inflated, so I’m getting another scan this Monday to see if it’s okay.
“I’ve been doing some light weights and bike sessions at home and I can get through that okay.
“Hopefully soon I can start running again.”
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The nationwide shutdown of football and sport due to the coronavirus means that when the AFL returns so will Mihocek.
The win 52-point win eliminated the angst of a loss weighing on the mind.
“We could be talking about a big loss and it would be a long however-many-months to have that hanging over us,” Mihocek said.
“We went out there knowing there would be no crowd and just went about it the way we always do.
“All pre-season we talked about fast starts, and to get out of the blocks like that was good and it went on for the whole game.
“It’s good we got the win and that make these times when we’re not playing a lot better than suffering a loss in the first round.”
After leaving Burnie, Mihocek made his way to Collingwood via a season with Maribynong Park, two with Werribee and two at Port Melbourne.
He was taken by the Magpies in the 2018 Rookie Draft and after two games in Collingwood’s reserves coach Nathan Buckley knew he had a beauty in the 194cm forward.
Two years later Mihocek has played 41 senior games, kicked 68 goals, played in a grand final and was the Magpies’ leading goal kicker last season.
He has just bought a house in Melbourne that he shares with girlfriend, Polly, who gave him a “bad isolation haircut”, and staffordshire terrier, Nova, and does a carpentry course with teammates Tyler Brown, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Steele Sidebottom and Levi Greenwood with a view to a possible apprenticeship down the track.
“Us boys are going to do a challenge over this break to build a few things and see who builds the best one. I need a garden shed so I might build one of those and a dog kennel,” he said.
Mihocek’s goals for this season were simple.
“You still have that mindset that you’re only one bad game away from getting dropped.” he said.
“That’s always at the front of my mind.
“Through the pre-season you work to improve on what you did the last pre-season, so getting a better 2km time trial time or lifting heavier, all of that to keep you improving.
“There was no real goal for the season other than trying to play every game and doing my best for the team and trying to be the best forward in the team.”
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