Melbourne players and staff have been working in shifts to support Brody Mihocek in hospital as the much-loved recruit underwent successful surgery on his fractured neck. The 33-year-old is already up and walking following an operation that took place just hours after he was hurt in a tackle from ex-Collingwood teammate Billy Frampton in the King's Birthday clash on Monday.
Demons coach Steven King was among the first to rush from the MCG to visit Mihocek in hospital before many more from the club followed in his footsteps.
"Some nervous moments over the last 24 hours," Tom Morris reported on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters. "The scans came back that he had a fractured neck — you can only imagine how difficult that would have been for Melbourne staff and teammates, and even Collingwood ex-teammates at that point. And it was a really difficult night."
Morris said the Dees are "doing everything they didn't do" when their Norm Smith medallist Christian Petracca was taken to hospital with his spleen, lung and rib injuries suffered in the same fixture two years ago. While the two medical situations are not identical, the handling of Petracca's situation kicked off an awkward 18 months between player and club before he was traded to Gold Coast at the end of last season. Much has been learned and much has changed since, with Mihocek helped in his lowest moment by many familiar faces from Melbourne.
"They are essentially working in shifts," Morris said. "Coaches, teammates, assistant coaches, other staff going to support Brody Mihocek in hospital just to lend him that helping hand and make sure he's OK, which is good to see. And the good news with Brody Mihocek from a news perspective is that he's walking around, he's in good spirits. The surgery went well. Yes, he has a fractured neck, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse."
In a Melbourne statement on Tuesday, football boss Alan Richardson said supporting Mihocek was their number one priority. "You never want to see an incident in our game like what we saw with Brody on Monday," Richardson said. "Brody is in the very best of care and was able to undergo surgery last night, which, thankfully, went as planned. Our primary focus right now is supporting Brody, his partner Polly and their family through his recovery, while ensuring his return to full health."
The Agenda Setters panellist Dale Thomas was in the Channel 7 commentary box when Mihocek was injured and praised the careful approach by all involved on the day. "You do your best to inform of what you know but not to speculate. I think that's probably the safest way going forward with it," he said. "We sit there and we're getting replays that aren't going to air and it's not looking great. You're just trying to, like everyone, you're hoping and praying for a positive outcome without knowing much in between and just hoping for the best. But well done to all the doctors involved. The precautions and everything that were executed was to a T."
Frampton has been offered a three-match ban for the tackle on his premiership teammate Mihocek.
