Players get corkies a lot,they usually rub them out within a week.
I can remember when i was playing school footy i was about 15,this guy from the opposition ironed me out and just ran straight at me and lifted his knee right at the moment we collided, it hurt so bad ,and by the next day my whole right thigh was black and blue.
So the old man says i can get that fixed for you ,i will take you to the trainers at E(old easts )Freo.
Sure i said anything so i could walk properly,i had no idea what was too come.
So Sunday morning we arrive as the league side has finished training and we got to the rooms.
I was in awe of the guys just sitting around telling stories of yesterdays game,Sorrell,Laurance ,Rogers,Regan they all were there. Smoking and drinking beers.
So Dad goes up to the trainer aand says he has a corkie can you get it rubbed out for him,yeh no worries Don, so i jump up on the table and he says yeh this will be ok after i work on it.
Out comes the oil and he spreads it all over my thigh,ok all good so far ,then he slowly runs his hand flat up and down the thigh ,it's now getting warmer ,so i'm thinking this is going well,it gets warmer and warmer, he has about a 30 sec brake and says now we will go a bit harder,by now i'm relaxed, if i had been a few minutes earlier i would have seen one of the players getting the same done and was squirming all over the table.Thats what i was doing about 10 secs after he started,the thumbs were really digging in up and down then sideways,i was gripping the side of the table as hard as i could ,i did not want to yell but it was close.
The pain was unbearable, up and down up and down.
Not sure how long but it seemed ages.
Finally he stopped hows that feel he said a lot better i said hoping there was not a return effort by him.
He said it looks ok ,probably will take a couple of days to get back to normal, so off the table i get and the leg did not want to move ,eventually i went and sat down for about ten minutes ,then it felt ok to walk.
But he was right i played footy four days later and it felt normal.
Now this was a long time ago ,and i'm sure the modern day trainers have a lot more tools to do the same job
I cringe when i think drapes has to go through that.
