While Barry Cable evaded everyone on the field, his best escape act may have been in 1979 at his home property in Perth.

Cable returned home after winning two premierships with North in 1975 and 1977, and was enjoying his time back in the WAFL while looking after his interests outside football.

But as he told Mike Sheahan on Fox Footy, one particular day ended disastrously.

“I bought a property just outside of Perth and I wanted to be a hobby farmer. I didn’t know much about it,” Cable explained.

“I went up on the property one day, saw the tractor in the shed, thought I’d get it going and made the biggest mistake that I could have made.”

The tractor kicked into gear, lurched forward and hit the superstar midfielder. If the incident ended there, it would have been enough of a caution.

Instead, the ordeal was only just beginning.

“Because of the hit and the knock, I was a bit dazed,” Cable said.

“I went around to turn the key off (on the tractor) and as I swung around with my right leg, the back wheel caught (the right leg) and dragged me underneath.

“The wheel convulsed the calf right off the bone, all you’ve got left is the bone on your leg.”

Cable was stuck under the running tractor, the wheel spinning and digging into his leg time and time again.

As his calf muscle was obliterated and the situation grew worse, somehow he was able to maintain his composure.

“I can clearly still remember thinking to myself if I can put up with this, the worst that can happen to me now is that it can chew my leg off. If it does that, I’ll still be able to get out. That was my thoughts at the time.

“I realised at the time that I just had to hang in there, simple as that…things will come good.

“I had to (remain conscious), because I realised had I gone unconscious that probably would have been it, because I would have bled to death.

“I knew I had to stay conscious so that when this thing stopped, I could start yelling.”

But then, a lucky break.

“What happened was it couldn’t get a grip at first because it kept slipping on my leg, but because of the weight of it and bouncing, then it got a grip on the bitumen and went up the wall.

“Because it went up the wall, the petrol couldn’t get up so the tractor cut out.

“Then I had to make sure if it came back down, I (was) out of its way otherwise I would have been whacked as well.”

Although Cable was able to get out of the way of the tractor, the danger hadn’t passed considering his inability to move.

One of his neighbours was able to come to Cable’s aid after hearing the initial yell.

“I was really lucky, the guy down the road did hear it.

“When he came, I was sort of to the point where I’d just about had it anyway and when he came, I said ‘don’t you faint on me now’.

Remarkably Cable then directed his rescuer on what to do next, organising calls to his wife and the hospital.

Once the ordeal was over, Cable spent four months in hospital recovering from the gruesome injury. Somehow, it didn’t change his outlook on life.

“It was just one of those things that happened, and I’m one of those people who move on.”