Jason McCartney says he’ll never forget the commitment of his team-mates to get him a win in his final AFL game.

Speaking on Fox Footy’s Open Mike, the Bali bombing survivor reflected on perhaps the most emotional match in the AFL’s history.

“If I look at the last couple of minutes of that game (North v Richmond – Round 11, 2003) when we hit the front, I played with some wonderful players at the North Melbourne Footy Club and the efforts of that senior leadership group that knew of my intentions at the end of the game… (Glenn) Archer, (Anthony) Stevens, these guys, it was like in those last couple of minutes it was just above and beyond the call of duty. They were remarkable.”

Less than eight months after suffering life-threatening injuries sustained after an explosion in Bali, McCartney donned the royal blue and white for one final time.

But the remarkable farewell might never have happened. Following the incident, the road to recovery was long and demanding.

“They (the doctors) spoke about our wedding being booked for December 14 that year… ‘you’ve got to postpone that, these injuries you’ll need eight to ten weeks in hospital’.

“Then they mentioned about the footy, ‘at that level (AFL), highly unlikely with these injuries’.

“I got myself out (of hospital) actually in three and a half weeks which was really important.

“I do remember being outside for the first time and taking those first steps. It was like a new-born foal. I think I’d lost 10 or 11 kilos, so I’d just wasted away. The weakness in my legs… I could only jog or walk probably 50 metres and that was it. I knew I had a lot of work to do then.”

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Even with sheer will and determination, McCartney faced a challenge to just stay on North’s list.

“He (Dean Laidley) made me work really hard. When all this happened, I was out of contract and I didn’t know where I sat in the scheme of things at the Kangas.

“I’d missed the last couple of games of that year. It was up in the air. Dean (Laidley) was coming in with maybe a new direction at the club, and ironically it was probably coming down to Mick (Martyn) and I as to who stayed.”

The man who’d been by his side in Bali was the same man who’d provide him a final opportunity at AFL level. Martyn was delisted and re-drafted by Pagan at Carlton, while McCartney got another chance at Arden Street.

“I suppose the pivotal moment for me when I knew I could actually play again, it was probably my 29th birthday, March the 14th of that year North Melbourne’s affiliate at the time was Port Melbourne in the VFL. I debuted for Port Melbourne in their reserves.

“I think we played Northern Bullants at the time and it was at Visy Park. For me that was a monumental occasion because I wasn’t worried about my injuries so much, it was the issue of, can I still do it?

“Thankfully I could because it was a pretty low-level game, but from there on I really was confident that I could get back and play.”

His moment arrived midway through the season.

“There was added pressure and expectation, I knew because we had our team meeting that Friday morning, us as a leadership group went for another meeting after it and that was actually when I told the leadership group that win, lose or draw I’d be finishing.

“I remember that meeting, and I quiver in the lip when I get emotional, then talking to Simmo (Adam Simpson) and Leigh Colbert after it and ‘why?’. I said ‘I just can’t keep doing it, I just can’t’.

“I realised through some visits back for medical checkups that I probably still had a couple of years of healing to go, and I was at a good level, but I just didn’t know what the implications could be long term.”

Over 43,000 fans were in attendance for McCartney’s farewell. The build-up was huge.

“All that focus and attention on me… I was uncomfortable because I look at my football career and I got there in the end, but I was just an average player that was trying to work my way through and got there.

“At three quarter-time I went in and I hadn’t done much. Knowing I had one quarter of footy left in me, I was just hoping I was still going to see my name on the whiteboard, thankfully it was.”

The rest is history.

“David King in the last quarter just kicked one forward and I just got in front and marked it, and I went back pretty anxious to be honest.

“Those gloves I wore… I actually put a new pair on in the warm-up because these were a bit older. I knew I was going to be playing forward and I found that they were a bit sticky, so it was alright to mark but I was a bit worried about kicking. I went with the old ones and thankfully it went through.”

Shortly after he set up Leigh Harding for the match-winner; a three-point win was the perfect way to go out.