Footy legend Nick Riewoldt reveals the game left his body so broken he can't remember the last time he did something almost every Aussie takes for granted
It follows 13 knee surgeries across a decorated career with St Kilda spanning from 2001 to 2017.
Speaking as a newly inducted AFL Hall of Fame member, the champion forward conceded his hard-nosed playing style has cost him dearly in retirement.
'I'm paying the price now because I have to sleep with pillows under my legs and I can't run. I can't remember the last time I ran,' Riewoldt said at Crown Palladium in Melbourne on Tuesday.
'I can't straighten my left leg because it has all calcified. It is cooked. It just aches.
'(In my playing days) My knee would just fill up with fluid, so on the way home from (training at) Seaford I would have 100mL drained out of it. Every week for two years.
'At the time I didn't really know (about the long-term damage), but I would make some different decisions around it (in hindsight).'
Riewoldt also stated his knee pain can at times be so severe he can't walk after playing with his three boys, James, William and Teddy.
He went onto recall a shocking concussion incident in 2015 with Adelaide Crows star Brodie Smith that threatened to end his career.
The concussion was so severe Riewoldt tragically forgot his sister had died from aplastic anaemia, a rare bone marrow condition, a few months earlier.
'I was 'coming to' in the ambulance and I just had a sense of dread that something bad had happened, and I was saying 'Is everything OK?' he said.
'Is (wife) Cath OK? Is my mother OK? Is my brother, my sister OK? I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't remember what it was.
'So then, I can remember all the doctors and physios looking at each other and then they had to break the news to me again, about what had happened.
'It was only about two or three months after Maddie had passed away and I couldn't remember that happening.'
A six-time best and fairest with the Saints, former club captain Riewoldt hung up his boots with 718 goals to his name from 336 appearances.
While a premiership ultimately proved to be elusive, he will always be a club legend at Moorabbin.
These days Riewoldt remains in the game, working as a respected commentator for Channel 7.
Elsewhere, SANFL superstar Ken Farmer was elevated to legend status - and Hawthorn four-time premiership icon Luke Hodge, Melbourne great Garry Lyon, AFLW superstars Daisy Pearce and Erin Phillips were also honoured.
Additionally, 1960s SANFL legend Peter Darley, WAFL seven-time flag winner and umpire George Owens plus Tasmania team of the century vice-captain John Leedham saw their contributions to the game formally recognised.
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