Bríd Stack: ‘The volcano erupted. I was crying almost inconsolably’

In tears, I told the neurosurgeon: ‘I can’t think about next year. All that matters for me is this year.’

Home comforts: Bríd Stack and Cora Staunton take delivery of some native goodies and gear from their respective counties, Cork and Mayo.

Monday was hard. Tough. One of the roughest days of my career. My mind was filled with doubt. Before I went to bed that night, I was asking myself that difficult question which I had tried so hard to suppress, to bury deep in the recesses of my mind, but which I could now no longer conceal, and which I unavoidably had to confront: ‘Is my Australian dream over?’

Earlier that day, I had met with Dr Peter Parkes, the Giants AFLW team doctor. We had chatted over the phone, but it was my first time meeting him in person. As the conversation unfolded, it was like he was raising a sledgehammer over his head in slow motion, building up to the moment of impact. Eventually he dropped the hammer in fast-forward motion and smashed everything to smithereens — in his opinion, my season was over. No more about it.