He’s one of the modern day AFL greats, but life was very different for Jarryd Roughead two years ago.
The four-time premiership Hawthorn Hawks star was forced to take indefinite leave from the game after four melanoma lumps were found on his lung.
Two years on, the cancer survivor is back on the field as captain of the finals-bound Hawks as they strive towards their fifth AFL Grand Final since 2012.
Jarryd Roughead, pictured with daughter Pippa and wife Sarah, has been cancer-free for almost two years
He’s also a proud new father after wife Sarah gave birth to their first child Pippa in February.
Roughead has revealed to AFL commentator Hamish McLachlan for The Herald Sun that surviving cancer made him a better person and forced him to realise there’s more to life than ‘two hours of footy on the weekend’.
‘You finally understand that footy’s not everything, even though you’ve always thought that it is, and you’ve been living a very selfish life assuming it is,’ the 272 game veteran said.
The Australian sporting world was rocked by the news of the diagnosis for the ruck/forward who had a melanoma on his lip removed a year earlier in 2015.
Aged 29 at the time, Roughead had married Sarah just six months earlier.
Hawks star Jarryd Roughead, pictured with wife Sarah says that beating cancer has made him a better person
Roughead continued to train for 12 months while he underwent an immunotherapy clinical trial, which started just weeks after his diagnosis.
‘Life changes pretty fast. Everything that you were doing or had planned is out the window. From the moment the doc told me I had cancer through my body, I can almost relive every step, moment for moment. Everything slowed down a little,’ Roughead told The Herald Sun.
Following his May 2016 diagnosis, Roughead said he would be moving forward with a ‘head down and bum up’ attitude and that he won’t lose his hair or suffer the side-effects of chemo treatment.
Jarryd and new wife Sarah during treatment following his shock cancer diagnosis
‘I’m still gonna be the same old me, just unfortunately can’t play,’ he said at the time.
‘The drugs that we need to use are very, very good. The percentages are very good.’
In December 2016, after eight months of immunotherapy, Roughead revealed he was cancer free and had been given the all clear to return to football.
Roughead said the overwhelming support he’d received during his treatment was very humbling and comforting but hopes most people who know him well would say he’s still the same person.
Jayyrd Roughead, pictured with daughter Pippa is now an ambassador for the Helping Our Health campaign
‘When you’ve got the support, it’s easier to attack it and go for it. For me personally, it’s changed me a little bit, but I still like to think I’m the same person, just a bit wiser,’ Roughead said.
Roughead is now an ambassador for Helping Our Health campaign, a joint initiative between the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science which aims to raise awareness of the value of clinical trials.
‘Anyone considering a trial, be as open and receptive as you can be because this is something that the greatest doctors and nurses in Australia are offering you and the more that you can be willing to participate in a trial, it can only benefit you,’ Roughead said in a new video posted the campaign’s website last week.
Jarryd Roughead (pictured) hopes to lead the Hawks to their 14th premiership flag in September