Brisbane Lions forward Eric Hipwood reveals he played with osteitis pubis for weeks

Key forward Eric Hipwood is looking at eight weeks of not doing much after playing out the final two months of Brisbane’s premiership season with osteitis pubis.

Hipwood played as a key defender in the Lions’ round 20 win over Gold Coast and then missed two games as the debilitating groin injury took hold.

He returned against Collingwood in round 23 and did not look the same player who was in red form after Brisbane’s mid-season bye.

However, with the help of his physios, doctors and trainers, Hipwood gritted his teeth to play a vital role in helping his team win a flag.

“Obviously it hampered me a little bit,” Hipwood told AFL.com.au in the jubilant dressing room in Brisbane.

“It was basically osteitis pubis, that’s it.

“It’s just with the power, the power when I kick the leg in some stages I was struggling.

“As time went on, I started to get a little better with the medication and stuff like that.”

The 27-year-old Brisbane Academy graduate said he needs to get back to basics when he returns to the team.

Unable to run as well as normal and losing distance in his prodigious left boot, Hipwood lost focus.

“I had to go back to the simple things, holding my opponent accountable,” he said.

“If I wasn’t influencing the game, I didn’t want my opponent to influence the game. It was quite simple.

“The next eight weeks don’t seem like much to me.

“We’ll have another scan during the week and go from there, but I think it’s just time off.”

Hipwood, who was drafted in 2015, said going from bottom to top made the triumph even sweeter.

“It’s really, really special to come through the Academy from 12 to now.

“What I’m even more proud of is that when we got to the club we were at the bottom of the ladder and we were able to rebuild.

“We fired our coach, we fired our GM, Greg Swann was able to stay the course, we had so much stability on our board, which helped us players a lot.

“It’s amazing.”

x