'Getting emotional': AFL moved by star's inspirational cancer comeback

Carlton's Sam Docherty is being hailed by footy fans around Australia after an inspirational return from his battle with cancer on Thursday night.

Spiritual leader Docherty marked his return after a cancer battle with a team-lifting goal as the Blues twice recovered from 20-point deficits to beat Richmond by 25 points at the MCG.

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The Blues' defender received a standing ovation when he ran onto the field to warm up before the game but the undoubted highlight of the match came via a second quarter goal.

Docherty's long set shot after a 50-metre penalty brought many in the 72,179-strong crowd to their feet, with teammates mobbing the Carlton man to celebrate the special moment.

It put the Blues eight points ahead in the shadows of halftime before they were forced to fight their way back into the match in a thrilling climax.

A six-goals-to-two third quarter gave Richmond control and Shai Bolton's third goal of the night looked to have set the Tigers on their way to victory early in the final term.

But Carlton turned the match on its head with five goals in eight minutes in a stunning surge to power themselves to a 14.17 (101) to 11.10 (76) upset.

The win ended an 11-game losing streak for Carlton against the Tigers.

Carlton gun Jacob Weitering perhaps put it best when speaking after the game about the significance of having Docherty back.

“He is just something else. Sorry, I’m just getting a little bit emotional,” the star defender told 3AW while choking back tears.

“He’s a leader of our football club, he’s gone through two knee reconstructions, cancer, he’s an incredible person, on and off the field.

“He’s got an incredible family, mother, brother, father will be up watching him from all the way up there, and Nat, his partner.

“I can’t say enough about him, he’s a terrific mentor, terrific leader for this group and to get the win for him tonight is going to be massive for our group going forward and I can’t wait to do it more and more times again.”

Docherty's return was commended across the footy community, with many viewers also left emotional by his "inspirational" display.

Sam Docherty reflects on 'whirlwind' build-up

Speaking to Channel 7 post-match, Docherty admitted he had serious doubts about whether he'd ever be able to make a playing return to the AFL.

“The whole week has been a bit of a whirlwind for me, just to be out here playing footy, again I’m so grateful for it. To see the fans, this place is unbelievable, he said.

“It’s obviously huge. You’re representing a large cohort of people who are going through a tough time. I understand the significance of that.

“To be able to come out here and do what I love and play with a bunch of my mates who I dearly love and they know how much they all mean to me. To get through to getting here today, honestly I didn’t think I’d be here, to be honest. But hard work paid off.”

Docherty told Fox Footy shortly after the final siren that it had been a particularly emotional build-up to his highly anticipated return.

“I’m pretty tired, not going to lie. I probably played this game over in my head for about six months, let alone today,” he said.

“I went for a walk this morning and ended up listening to music and nearly crying walking around the park, some people probably thought I looked like an idiot.

“It’s been a massive week and understanding that, and as I said, representing a large cohort of people doing it tough, I hope I’ve inspired some sort of goodwill.”

with AAP

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