Sam Docherty exits the game with respect that transcends allegiances

When North Melbourne’s Ben Cunnington retired a couple of years ago, he said he has lost the will to compete. After missing a season with a back injury, he then endured nine weeks of chemotherapy. His farewell speech was one of the few times he spoke to the media. He said life had thrown too much at him to obsess over footy any more.

But the more life and football threw at Sam Docherty, the more desperate he was to get back. Only now could he properly recognise it for was it was – a kind of stubbornness, a mad optimism bordering on recklessness. Like Cunnington, he eventually realised that there was nothing more to give, and nothing more to prove. “I’m tired and I’m exhausted,” he said yesterday.

“I’ve had a few speed bumps along the way.” He had 16 surgeries in his career. He had three knee reconstructions. During Covid, he was diagnosed with stage two testicular cancer. Within a year, it had spread to his lymph nodes, his lungs and his stomach. Like Cunnington, he had months of chemo.

View image in fullscreen Sam Docherty was the fulcrum in one of the most significant moments in Carlton’s recent history. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP

When they retire, footballers stand in an auditorium and sniffle their way through their notes. They say things like, “It goes quicker than you think boys.” Docherty did something different. He thanked his nurses and his psychologist, who were all in the room. He apologised to all the medical staff who’d given him bad news over the years. He said everything he did in football was about making his dad proud. Eddie Docherty was a famous name at the Phillip Island football club. Sam Docherty was on a high-altitude camp, just 24 hours after he’d met his new Carlton teammates, when he was informed his dad had died from a heart attack. He was 53.

Docherty played at Carlton through some dire times. He sat through so many crisis meetings. He started again under a lot of new coaches. He always seemed to be playing on blokes who were taller and bigger. It’s why he choked up yesterday when he acknowledged Patrick Cripps. They were together through the rebuilds and sackings and thrashings. They were together when everything finally clicked under Michael Voss. “I hope you get what you deserve in footy,” he told the man who took over from him as captain.

In the 2023 semi-final, Docherty was the fulcrum in one of the most significant moments in the club’s recent history. Former fitness boss Andrew Russell says it was the most exhilarating 10 minutes he’s had in sport, and he was there for four premierships at Port Adelaide and Hawthorn. Docherty had earlier dislocated his shoulder and had it yanked back in. With seconds remaining and the MCG quaking, his young opponent overcommitted, Docherty kept his head, and set up the match-winning goal.

View image in fullscreen Sam Docherty (pictured in 2014) will close the curtain on his long AFL career against the Hawks tomorrow night. Photograph: Michael Dodge/Getty Images

In the opening round five months later, as Brisbane played almost flawless football, Docherty twisted awkwardly. He sat out the second half on the bench, hoping it was just a hyperextended knee, and watched his team launch one of the most incredible comebacks in the history of the sport. But by the next morning, the adrenalin had worn off, and the knee had blown up. He was in the car in Brisbane when the doctor called. He’d ruptured his ACL for the third time. True to type, he relentlessly and successfully embarked on an accelerated six-month recovery.

The great players all exited the game differently. As Ted Whitten stalked the lane-ways of Footscray on the way to his final game, he was asked how he felt: “It feels bloody awful,” he said. “I don’t feel very happy at all.” With great reluctance, and not a lot of foresight, Gary Ablett Sr exited with a limp, a leather jacket, and a barely coherent press conference. Nathan Buckley finished on the bench, his hamstring torn, his hands behind his head, his team a functional ruckman short of pulling off one of the great preliminary final heists. Chris Judd exited on a stretcher.

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Docherty goes out on his terms. As he did the media rounds yesterday, he was backdropped by photos of Carlton champions past. Hawthorn and Geelong fans would contest this, but it would be hard to walk into any football club in Australia and see a better array of talent framed on the walls. By deeds and by force of personality, they are known by their nicknames – Jezza, Big Nick, The Buzz, The Dominator, The Flying Doormat, Sticks, SOS and Diesel. Doc doesn’t have their accolades, their flags, their highlights reels. But he retires as universally admired as any of them, a respect that transcends club allegiances, and a mark of both the footballer and the man.

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