Grant Weeks: Country football spearhead retires after back injury

GRANT Weeks knew something was wrong.

Bowing out: Grant Weeks has been forced to retire from football due to a back injury. Picture: Zoe Phillips

GRANT Weeks knew something was wrong.

The 28-year-old farmer from Colbinabbin had crawled into bed late one night after harvesting, but said it felt like “someone was stabbing me in the back”.

What has been discovered to be a prolapsed disc in his spine has ended the career of one of country Victoria’s best spearheads.

Weeks said while it was disappointing his football career had been cut short, he also had to think about life after football.

“It’s disappointing, but in saying that I’m happy with the footy career I’ve had,” Weeks said.

“I’ve been lucky enough to win a few premierships and meet some great people and have some good times.

“To not finish up when you want to, it’s a bit sad, but you can’t do much about it.”

Star: Weeks in action for Vic Country. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

He said he was on medication and was managing the injury, which he put down to a combination of work, football and “wear and tear”.

But there was a “slim chance” the injury would correct itself on its own.

Weeks won premierships at his home club Colbinabbin (Heathcote District league), Golden Square (Bendigo) and St Mary’s in the Northern Territory.

He was the Bendigo league’s leading goal-kicker for 2010-12, surpassing 100 goals in each of those years as he had at Colbinabbin in 2009 and would again in 2015 and at Rochester in 2014.

He was also best-and-fairest in the Heathcote District league in 2015, and was Vic Country vice-captain the same year.

Weeks says it was former Colbinabbin coach Darryl Wilson (now Strathfieldsaye premiership coach) who let him play seniors when he was teenager which “really kicked me along football-wise”.

Then there was Golden Square duo Nick Carter and Shawn McCormick — Weeks said Carter “kept me on my toes” and “probably got the best out of me”, while McCormick “taught me the tricks of the trade to go to the next level” as a forward.

Weeks said he planned to help out Colbinabbin coach Nick Knight from the bench this year — “I’ll be definitely helping out because I want Colbo to win a premiership” — but travel could also be on the cards.