Weekly Times | BIRREGURRA playing coach Ben Boseley says clubs and leagues must take a strong stand on incidents of illegal high contact in football following his own harrowing facial injury.
Boseley returned to coaching in the Colac and District Football League on Sunday after sustaining six fractures around his eye and the cheekbone in an incident in the Round 1 match against Otway Districts on April 11.
Three fractures required plates, which were inserted during surgery on April 15.
Boseley, 27, does not expect to resume playing for three months, but returned to coaching matches on Sunday and enjoyed the experience.
Birregurra defeated Apollo Bay by 91 points.
“It was a really good chance for me to show everybody that I have moved on,” Boseley said.
Boseley is a former VFL player and two-time Geelong league premiership winner who coached Birregurra to the grand final last year.
Otway Districts’ Dale Ferrari was reported for striking Boseley and suspended for 10 matches after pleading guilty. It lifted his career suspension tally to 14 matches, two less than the limit to be deregistered.
Otway Districts president Tony Robertson said the whole club was upset by the incident, and that type of behaviour was “not what the club is about”.
He said Ferrari was taking a few weeks away from the club and would “reassess his involvement in country footy”.
Boseley said he did not hold any grudges against Ferrari or the Otway Districts club — who have both expressed their apologies to him — but was glad the league took a stand on the issue.
He said intentional high contact outside football’s rules must be stamped out, and had concerns incidents like his could result in younger players leaving the game.
“Footy is great but when it’s played in the wrong manner, it’s just going to force guys to give it up and question whether it’s worth it,” Boseley said.
“For me, I’ve certainly questioned it.”
The impact on his wife, Annie, was the worst part of the experience for Boseley, but the surgeon’s review last Tuesday gave them “peace of mind” that his recovery was on track.
Boseley had also spoken to his players about the incident’s impact on them. He returned to his teaching job on Monday.
