JAKE Carlisle flew into a pack, took the mark and landed on the ground with the ball in his hand. The problem was he couldn't feel his hands, or his arms, chest or anything between his neck and waist.
Carlisle was at Essendon training last month competing in a drill where four forwards take on six defenders. It was two days before the Bombers took on North Melbourne in an important game, and the key forward felt a whack on his neck during the marking contest.
Half a second later he was laying on the ground, with a sharp and intense pain going through the left side of his neck down to his chest. It forced his head to tilt at a right-angle, training was stopped and moved inside, and teammates were visibly concerned about Carlisle's health.
"It was pretty scary," Carlisle told AFL.com.au. "Instantly I just dropped. I was flat on my back, and I had the worst pains coming from my neck down to my stomach. I couldn't feel my arms.
"From my neck down to my waist I was numb. The only thing I could feel was my legs, which was pretty weird because if it's a neck injury, you'd think you wouldn't be able to feel much at all."
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Doctors and medicos raced onto the club's Tullamarine training field to attend to Carlisle, and were there for nearly 30 minutes making sure they followed procedure for neck injuries.
He immediately thought about whether there would be permanent damage to his neck, and feared the numb feeling might remain for good.
"I shut my eyes for a minute and the doc came over and said 'What is it?' and I said 'I can't feel my arms'," Carlisle said.
"I didn't know what to think or feel. I wanted to get my feeling back, that's the only thing I was thinking about."
That slowly returned, but the pain remained for an hour-and-a-half, including at the hospital where scans showed he had only pinched a nerve in his neck.
The worry dissipated then – he missed the round seven clash with the Kangaroos before returning the following week – but the experience frightened Carlisle as much as it did everyone else.
"I heard the next day that the boys went inside because they were pretty worried for me, and I got texts from pretty much everyone saying they hoped I was OK which was pleasing and positive," he said.
"I am pretty lucky, but I suppose that's the job we do. It's the risk we take and hopefully it doesn't happen again."
It was the hiccup Carlisle didn't need. The important Bomber started this season a bit scratchy, after a pre-season interrupted by knee tendinitis. During summer Carlisle had to be closely managed. He trained for the first week of the pre-season, but the load of time trials meant it pulled up sore.
He rejoined the main group in January, and was able to train at his discretion, knowing when to step things up or take things down a notch.
As with most of the 2012-listed players, who were at the Bombers during the club's contentious supplements program, he sat out the NAB Challenge and started the season a little rusty. Not just in terms of fitness, but also in developing cohesion with Joe Daniher.
"It does take a bit out of you missing a lot of the pre-season, but towards the back end of the pre-season it's going to help me a lot. I'm pretty confident I'm going to be a lot fresher than a lot of other boys will be," he said.
"I see myself as a second-year forward now, whereas the [best] forwards in the game have been around for five, six and seven years. I've got a lot of work to do – I know that and I can't wait – but missing pre-season gets you off to a slow start."
Carlisle will keep chipping away. Last year was his first as a full-time forward in his time at Essendon, and followed a breakout season in defence in 2013.
He admits to having his doubts about the move last year, but finished the season with 27 goals (including an eight-goal haul against the Western Bulldogs) and more confidence.
"That's the challenge … doing it every week. I can't be doing it for one week and then go missing for three. I started to get more belief with more games I played, and then I believed I could do it. I've showed I can," he said.
When James Hird returned as coach at the start of last pre-season, he organised a meeting with Carlisle and Michael Hurley, who switched positions in 2014 under stand-in coach Mark Thompson.
The trio sat down and Hird let the players work out what they thought the best set-up would be for the team in 2015, deciding Hurley should stick in defence, Carlisle should stay forward and they would be open to switching at times.
So far in 2015, Hurley has been in All Australian form in the backline while Carlisle's performances have been steadily building, including a strong aerial (but inaccurate) display against Richmond last week. Both are aware of their importance to the club.
"It was just the three of us and we spoke about the positives of how if 'Hurls' keeps going the way he is down back and I play some good games up forward, it's probably going to best help the team," Carlisle said.
"The positive is we both know we can play back and both of us can do OK up forward. The harder part is being consistent up forward and Mick knows that.
"I do like the backline, but I feel like the forward line, with my game, has more to offer. If I can be as consistent as I can and keep jumping at the ball and playing my role, then the goals will come and the main thing is it's in the best interests of the team and Hurls as well."
