Werribbe coach Simon Atkins was putting the finishing touches on his 12.30pm pre-game briefing when the dreaded emergency phone call came through.hree of his players - Jarrod Garth, Wayde Twomey and Jake Furfaro - were in the hands of paramedics after a car accident just 500m from the ground.
Garth was flung from the back seat and hit the windscreen almost face-first.
Initially, the 20-year-old thought about venturing on to Preston Oval to confront the Northern Bullants with the help of a few stitches.
But it soon became clear the lacerations around his left eye were far more serious.
Garth withdrew from the VFL game and was rushed to hospital. He later had plastic surgery - including 20 stitches - after fears he would never be able to open and shut his left eye again.
Although they were shaken and shocked, Twomey and Furfaro managed to front in time to change and play the game.
Twomey would be involved in another bizarre twist during the game - but more of that later.
Garth said he was reading the paper in the back seat when the accident happened.
I didn't see anything until we hit the car," Garth said yesterday. "I had my seatbelt on, but hit the windscreen. I'd hate to think what would've happened if I didn't have it on."
Garth, who spent last year on Geelong's rookie list, suffered a cut above the eye and muscle damage. "Without the surgery, the muscles wouldn't have healed and I wouldn't be able to open and close it," Garth said.
Twomey was fortunate to escape injury on the way to the game, but his luck ran out as Werribee lost to the Bullants.
Unbelievably, he copped a hit in the eye from teammate Cam Purss and faces four weeks on the sidelines.
Twomey also found himself in hospital and underwent surgery on Sunday to repair a tear duct and a fracture to his eye socket.
In another twist, Harley Ryan, the late inclusion to replace Garth, was also rushed to hospital after copping an eye injury in the game.
A ball was accidently kicked into Ryan's face, causing extensive bleeding in the eye
Last Modified on 22/02/2008 11:44