Geelong West playing coach Scott Frangos has revealed the potential danger a dislocated collarbone suffered in the weekend’s loss to Belmont Lions could have posed to his health.
Frangos suffered the injury after being bumped fairly by an opponent in the twilight clash with the Lions at West Oval.
“I just hit flush on the shoulder, and it pushed my collarbone back into my body, which isn’t ideal,” he said.
“It was resting on some blood vessels and some arteries, so they were a bit worried about, potentially, a stroke.
“The people in the hospital did really well and got me out of the hospital all safe.
“They were able to manipulate it back into place … which is really lucky.”
The first-year coach will spend the next six weeks in a sling, during which time he will take charge from the sidelines.
Whether the 34-year-old plays again this year or at all is something Frangos isn’t concerning himself with at this stage; instead, he is focusing on his recovery.
“I’m not really thinking about it right now; it’s just not a priority,” he said. “I’ll go the hospital in a couple of weeks for a catchup and see what they say.
“But, I’m not even thinking about that at the moment.
“It definitely wasn’t in the plan of how I thought my career would come to an end.
“I’m at the back end of it (career), so, sometimes, it’s bigger than footy.
“We’ll wait and see what happens.”
Frangos’s silver lining is being able to lead from the coaches box while bench coach Bennett Thompson is overseas for up to six weeks.
“It’s worked out perfectly that I’ll be on the sideline now, being able to run it and see how that side of things goes,” he said.
Frangos wasn’t the only injury to come out of the 40-point defeat.
Tom Burke (finger) will miss this week’s meeting with Anakie at West Oval, while Ako Warakea (shoulder) and Oscar Miller (hamstring) are facing lengthier stints on the sidelines.
“Burkey shouldn’t be too far away; I think it’s only one week,” Frangos said.
“But, the rest should be a few weeks, which is unfortunate.”
Experienced midfielder Matt Sondergeld is a chance to return, having not played since the opening-round win over North Geelong.
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