Talented Corio small forward B.J O’Toole will likely miss the remainder of the GDFNL season despite scans clearing him of a ruptured Achilles.
The 28-year-old was resigned to requiring surgery when he was placed in a cast during a hospital visit last Friday following an incident in the loss to North Geelong at Shell Reserve on June 22.
However, scans yesterday found O’Toole has a 9cm tear in his calf.
“Whenever you get told something like that, that could interfere with your life and everything outside of football, it’s a pretty big thing to take in,” he said.
“I was somewhat lucky to have a couple of days to think about it.
“Getting the positive news from the scans on the Monday morning was definitely a sigh of relief.”
After an impressive pre-season, O’Toole found himself in the senior team for the season opener against Werribee Centrals.
However, 2024 hasn’t all been smooth sailing.
“It’s probably the fittest I’ve been in 4-5 years, so I was really keen to hit the ground this year,” O’Toole said.
“I played the first few games, and I felt like I wasn’t performing the way I should,” he said.
“So, I took a step back and had a couple of games in the ressies to get a feel for it and get a bit of footy in my hands.
“In the second game in the reserves, I fractured my AC joint, so I missed a few weeks from that.
“Then I came back and played against Bannockburn and then North Geelong and injured myself again.”
O’Toole admits this injury had him contemplating his playing future.
However, with Corio trending in the right direction under father-son duo Darren and Joel Bennett, he’s not quite ready to hang up the boots.
“I’m pretty keen to get fit again and have a crack next year,” O’Toole said.
“I really think we’re heading in the right direction.”
While O’Toole’s football season may not have gone as he wanted, his reputation as a talented Indigenous artist continues to grow.
Ballarat-based Bendix Workshop commissioned O’Toole to design an artwork that was then replicated on Matt Stone Racing’s Supercar for last month’s Indigenous Round in Darwin.
“They wanted an artwork that symbolised Wadawurrung Country and their connection to Wadawurrung Country,” he said.
“It was a large artwork – 1.5m x 1.0m – and they translated that onto a Supercar.
“To have my artwork showcased on a Supercar was pretty phenomenal.”
O’Toole was further recognised when his design was voted the best in a public vote for the best livery.
“I was lucky enough to win that vote by about 10,000 votes,” he said.
“It’s nice recognition. I do a lot of work with schools and organisations, so whenever I get the opportunity to have my art showcased in the public domain, it’s pretty rewarding.
X: @krockfootball
