‘It got pretty tough’: Hickey almost left Swans during COVID crisis
Swans ruckman Tom Hickey revealed how close he came to returning to Sydney to support family due to the chaos wreaked by NSW’s COVID-19 emergency.
In an indication of the off-field struggles that have faced the nomadic Swans since they were forced to abruptly leave, Hickey strongly considered leaving the team to be with his wife Chloe, who is pregnant with twins, and his two-year-old son.
It was not until the AFL and the two Sydney teams locked in a quarantine hub for partners and families that the 30-year-old felt comfortable enough to play on.
If he had understandably left it would have created a huge hole in the Swans side but through it all Hickey, one of the key players in the club’s rise in 2021, said he felt no pressure from coach and strong mental health advocate John Longmire.
Tom Hickey says he considered taking time out of the game to be with his family during Sydney’s COVID-19 crisis.Credit:Getty
“It got pretty tough there for a while, I think I wouldn’t have been the only person in that situation.,” Hickey said.
Lance Franklin, Josh Kennedy, George Hewett and Sam Reid are among other Swans with children.
“And we had some serious discussions about me, potentially going home and coming back through the hub through the quarantine hub just because we went probably two weeks there without getting any real clarity on where I was heading,” Hickey said.
“And I think the uncertainty is what was the hardest bit. But my wife Chlo’ was an absolute trooper and was so incredible through it all and so grateful to have them in my life. They told me to stay, and we soldiered through, and now we’re pumped.”
An added bonus, Hickey said, his son did not forget him while he was away.
Hickey’s personal situation adds more merit to not only his performances but that of the Swans, who won five of six games while separated from their loved ones. Players were reunited with partners and families last week after about seven weeks apart.
The emotional toll was evident when Longmire struggled to hold back tears celebrating the Swans’ victory in a dramatic Sydney derby where both clubs lost star players minutes before the game due to COVID-19 concerns.
At his fourth club, Hickey paid tribute to the strength and character of the Swans group, who bonded over games of Monopoly, chess and pool.
“I don’t think I’ve been a part of a more resilient bunch,” Hickey said. “I don’t know if it’s the youth, I don’t know if it’s a bit of naivety but the boys they just take everything in their stride, and they see the positive in every situation.”
Hickey has also been thrown a few curve balls, not least a ruptured posterior cruciate ligament, which remarkably, cost him just the one game.
So well has he responded to his strength and maintenance program, Hickey is considering playing out his career without having the ligament surgically repaired.
“I’ve probably felt the last four weeks I’ve been able to jump aggressively again at the ball and not be overly worried about having any more incidents in there,” Hickey said.
“I don’t have a PCL, it was fully ruptured. So it was just giving my body time to sort of adapt and putting some strength around the knee to adapt without the ligament there.”
Barring injury, Hickey will in the coming weeks add to the two finals he has played in a career which started in 2011 and has taken him to four different states.
“Footy has been incredibly fun this year and even with all the challenges so another opportunity to keep playing footy and then just playing in a winning side most weeks has been so enjoyable,” Hickey said. “And this my 11th year has definitely been my favourite.”
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