There has been a lot of talk around how Melbourne’s Christian Petracca’s injuries were dealt with on King’s Birthday.

Leigh Matthew recalls Nigel Lappin’s famous fitness test before the 2003 grand final following broken ribs suffered in the preliminary final against Sydney.

“The last words before he was ready to go was I’m not feeling pain but I can’t breathe deeply.” Matthews said on Wide World of Sports. 

Click PLAY to listen to Leigh Matthews talk about the Nigel Lappin fitness test on 3AW 

“To this day, I thank all the footy gods that nothing untoward happened to Nigel.”

Image: Getty