Star Roo Ben McIntosh thought his season may be screwed.
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McIntosh was forced to leave the ground early in the recent clash against Kiewa-Sandy Creek after accidentally having his foot stomped on by an opponent.
The Roo midfielder already has several screws in his foot after it was fractured playing for Albury several years ago.
Despite fearing that his foot may be fractured again, McIntosh intuitively did what most footballers have a habit of doing - get the injury taped and deal with the consequences later.
"I was in a heap of pain but that's footy and you can't stop half-way through," McIntosh said.
"So I got it strapped up nice and tight.
"Kiewa's Jack Di Mizio was causing us a fair few headaches early and I wanted to get back on and try to quieten him down a bit.
"But they were still too good for us."
Courageously McIntosh played out the rest of the match but revealed he wore out his left footy boot as he altered his running style to compensate for the injury.
"I actually wore a hole in my footy boot because I was running on the outside of my foot to compensate," he said.
"I couldn't put any pressure on the arch of my foot."
McIntosh trudged off the ground after the Roos went down to the flag favourites by 47-points fearing he may be done for the season.
But a visit to the specialist in Melbourne earlier this week delivered a positive prognosis.
"It's not as serious as I thought it would be," he said.
"The specialist said it's a few sprains, ligament damage and tearing of scar tissue.
"The good news is that there is no fracture.
"There is a broken screw but the specialist is not too worried about that.
"The screw is cracked but is not affecting the structure of my foot.
"I'm a chance to be back playing in a couple of weeks.
"I missed last weekend against Thurgoona and I've had the foot in a moon boot for the last 10 days.
"I will have to wear it for another week or so.
"I will take the moon boot off after the bye this weekend and start putting some weight on my foot and see how I go.
"But I'll have to get a new pair of footy boots, rest up a bit and then hopefully I will be right."
The news will be a welcome tonic for the Roos who have battled a crippling injury toll during the opening six rounds of the season.
Last year's minor premiers have slumped to ninth on the ladder with a 2-4 record.
McIntosh is hoping the Roos will welcome back several of their better players after this weekend's bye.
"We have had a shocking run with injuries so far," he said.
"The thing that hurts is most of the injuries have happened to our best players.
"Josh Garland has been missing since round three after winning our best and fairest last year.
"Harry McBurnie played one match and busted his ankle again.
"Gus Lingham hurt his ribs last weekend against Thurgoona, so he will be out for a bit as well."
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McIntosh conceded the Roos now faced an uphill battle to play finals.
"It's going to be tough to make finals now," he said.
"We can't afford to have too many more slip-ups.
"Especially with Dederang-Mt Beauty and Beechworth having a friendly draw.
"We feel if we are at full-strength and play to our potential that we can match most sides in the competition.
"We just need a bit of luck."
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