While he maintained some hope of playing, club medical staff had other ideas and ruled him out at the last minute.
“Friday night against Carlton was one of the biggest games for the club and it was really frustrating to miss it,” Macmillan told kangaroos.com.au.
“I got sick on the Thursday and the club medicos sent me home early. When Friday came around I still wasn’t feeling 100% and hadn’t had much sleep the night before so it was best not to risk it.”
Finally, there is some good news for the 19-year old with North Melbourne offering him a new deal.
At a time when many young players are being head-hunted by the AFL’s newest team GWS, Macmillan doesn’t want to be anywhere else but Aegis Park.
“It was a pretty easy choice when they (North Melbourne) came to me and asked if I wanted to sign another contract. I didn’t even consider being at any other club. I love it here and the club showed faith in drafting me so I didn’t even think twice when accepting the offer.”
Macmillan has fully recovered from the horrific incident in round 11 which left him with facial fractures and although he doesn’t remember it, he says it taught him a lot about the way he plays.
“What I did was pretty stupid; I went in head first and didn’t protect myself. I’ve done a bit of work on that to tighten up my technique so that if I was in that situation again, next time I’ll know what to do differently while still going in hard but protecting myself at the same time.
“As a defender you often find yourself in that situation and it can be pretty uncomfortable. You’ve got to go when it’s your time to go but in the same token you want to do it in the best way to protect yourself,” Macmillan said.
With no memory of the collision, it wasn’t until that night that he watched the vision on his computer.
“I watched the footage back on YouTube in hospital because I wanted to know what happened. I couldn’t remember anything and one of the nurses said it was on the internet so I watched it a couple of times then but now I’m back playing I don’t want to see it again.
“I also lost the feeling in my face for the month after so I didn’t have any pain which also helped.”
Macmillan made a solid return in Round 17 against the Bulldogs with 15 possessions and he made sure nothing held him back.
“Coming back, my body was a little bit tentative but after the first quarter it was gone. As soon as I got my head in the game all nerves were gone.”
“You’ve got so many other things to think about when you’re out there that you don’t even have time to worry.
