St Kilda great reveals heartbreaking reason why he forced himself to ‘suffer quietly’ after a life-changing injury rocked his career

Justin Koschitzke believes he returned to the footy pitch too soon after the St Kilda great suffered a horror head injury during a match in 2006.

The 42-year-old, who said he had ‘suffered quietly’ after the life-changing injury, even thinks in hindsight that he should have perhaps hung up his boots entirely.

During the Saints’ Round Six victory over the Western Bulldogs back in 2006, the 42-year-old fractured his skull in a contest with Daniel Giansiracusa.

Scary scenes unfolded, with Koschitzke dropping to the floor before he was taken from the field on a stretcher.

He was expected to miss around four weeks of action due to the injury, but spent much longer on the sidelines, having struggled to regain hearing in one of his ears.

Koschitzke, who is an advocate for mental health and wellbeing, would go on to miss 13 games of footy that season, returning for his side’s Round 19 clash against Geelong.

But during an open and honest interview with Hamish McLachlan on Channel 7’s Unfiltered, the 42-year-old revealed he would have done things differently in hindsight.

‘You were recognising the symptoms then? It’s not as if you look back and say you were suffering then, you were very aware of it then?’ McLachlan asked, reflecting on the moment he was knocked out against the Bulldogs.

‘I was very aware of it, but I thought that’s OK because I’ve just been smashed in the head,’ Koschitzke told the broadcaster.

‘It will pass, this will get better. I suffered quietly. I couldn’t tell anyone because you’re in an environment where you don’t want to lose respect from your team-mates or give an inch, you want your armour because then someone else is taking your spot.’

Koschitzke has been open about his struggles with his concussion and mental health in the past, revealing in 2022 that he was unable to remember games that he had played in.

During the interview the 42-year-old also revealed that there were games in which he wished his side would even lose. 

The footy star, who was drafted to the Saints in 2000, would hang up his boots in 2013, following a glittering career in which he kicked 247 goals across 200 appearances.

But if he had his time again, Koschitzke stated that he perhaps wouldn’t have returned so soon.

‘What I thought was manning up was to come back and play that year when if I had my time again, there’s no way I would have played that year.

‘Maybe knowing what I know now I probably would never have played ever again. I can honestly say that.

‘Why would I put myself in a situation to keep getting hit and keep getting hit – knowing what I know and feel as a 42-year-old.

‘But then you’re bulletproof. Your legs are OK, no problem, let’s go play.’

‘But it was the most ridiculously uncomfortable period. Running up the race, with the helmet on, going: “I’m not ready, I’m dizzy, I’m out of body,” with the thought of the neurologist going: “Jeez, I didn’t know if you were going to walk or talk again”.

‘And then you’ve actually got a game to think about. You’ve got tactics. You’ve got opposition. You’ve got a gameplan and a structure and all of this, you have to get yourself into a competitive environment, basically, while you’re having an anxiety attack.’

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