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'I remember looking down and my foot was facing the other way' - Drew Mitchell recalls the horror injury that took years to get over

By Online Editors
Drew Mitchell of the Waratahs is carried from the field against the Reds in 2011. (Photo by Jonathan Wood/Getty Images)

Former Wallaby winger Drew Mitchell has opened up about the mental battles that took years to overcome following a horrific ankle injury during a Super Rugby match against his old team the Queensland Reds in 2011.

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“In my own opinion, I was in the form of my career and then for that to happen on the eve of the World Cup,” Mitchell said on RugbyPass Legends.

Mitchell began an innocuous kick chase as the Waratahs hoisted a box kick, on the way to the contest he collided with loose forward Scott Higginbotham shoulder-to-shoulder and fell to the ground awkwardly, twisting his ankle and breaking his leg in multiple places.

“I remember looking down and my foot was facing the other way. That’s what rattled me the most.

“I also remember they relocated the ankle on the field, there was a lady that came over with a green whistle and she was trying to put the vial, it’s like the morphine, in the whistle, and she was spilling it everywhere and I was like ‘f***ing give me that! I need it’.”

“I soon as I sucked on that, the pain was fine.

As Mitchell departed from the field on a medical cart, he remembers vividly coping abuse from the Brisbane crowd.

“I remember going up the tunnel, and of course I’m a former Queensland Reds player that left, and I just hear this ‘suck s*** Mitchell, you c***’. I don’t know why, but that one moment really stuck out.”

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With his World Cup less than six months away, Wallaby coach Robbie Deans paid him a visit that night after the game where Mitchell pleaded with him to still pick him.

“Robbie came into the hospital that night, and I told him I would be fine for the World Cup, don’t give up on me even though my foot is in how many pieces.

Drew Mitchell made it to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, as Deans backed his winger despite not have regular game time under his belt on return.

“I was lucky that Robbie backed me, and picked me for the World Cup even though I was underdone.”

The mental scars of the gruesome injury stayed with him long after he had returned the field, as he battled visions of every player he watched on TV dislocating his ankle and even a fan as he prepared to play a game in Wales.

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“You always get over your physical, you can do your rehab, you can do your strengthening and all the rest of it but I had a lot of trouble mentally getting over that.”

“I’d watch any sort of contact sport, and every tackle I thought that someone was going to dislocate their ankle. It obviously had an effect on me mentally. I started to see a psychologist about it, just to be ok about it. It would take myself to a place that would make me feel uncomfortable about it in order to become okay about it.

“I still remember when I came back later, even 12-months after I returned, I was on the bus on the way to a game at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and the bus goes quite slowly because you are behind a police escort on horseback.

“The street there just before Millennium, there are hundreds, thousands of people banging the bus and all the rest of it. At one point there was this Australian guy jumping up and banging on the bus window and I just pictured him falling down and dislocating his ankle.

“So even though I was back playing for a long time, I just hadn’t addressed that fear of me doing it again.”

Watch the full episode of RugbyPass Legends with Drew Mitchell below.

RugbyPass Legends – Drew Mitchell Part II:

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Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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