Darren Jolly Biography

Darren Jolly says he was left shocked and scared after a persistent headache he had been suffering from turned out to be a brain tumour.

"I knew the radiologist from footy days," Jolly said.

"He said 'listen, we need to go have an MRI straight away, there's something there and we need to know what it is'.

"I had an MRI ... he came to me and said `you need to go and see a specialist, you've got a lump on your brain'.

"The list of possible things that can go wrong (with surgery) was a bit of a worry .. loss of memory, death, paralysis, seizures.

"I'm only 33, that (death) was nowhere near the radar of things I had to worry about.

"It was very scary to hear all of that when it's so sudden."

Specialists told Jolly the benign cyst was unrelated to any head knocks he suffered during a 237-game career with Melbourne, Sydney and Collingwood.

"No relation whatsoever between this and footy," he said.

"It's just a freaky occurrence."

Darren Jolly has reportedly undergone surgery to remove a lesion from his brain.

The 33-year-old will now to wait to see if the results of a biopsy taken show if the lump is malignant.

Jolly, who is currently filming a second series of Channel Nine's renovation program The Block with his wife Deanne, sought medical treatment in Melbourne last week because of persistent headaches.

The father of two underwent a procedure called a ventriculostomy, which involves drilling through the skull to allow the removal of fluid.

"Darren will know more about his condition over the next week," a Nine spokesman said.

"Until then there will be no further comment and he and his family respectfully request privacy while they navigate their way through this serious and sensitive issue.

"His surgery went well and two incision points were created to drain the fluid, which has eased the pressure and headaches.

"A biopsy has been taken to determine what the lump is."

St Kilda young ruckmen praise the immediate impact of new part-time ruck coach Darren Jolly.

"He's really good. I've already sat down and watched tapes with him and we've done a fair bit of full-on practical stuff," Tom Hickey said.

"He wants to join in as well so it's good having that extra bigger body that we might have to come up against at training.

"He was the best at holding his ground."

Ex-Magpie Heath Shaw defends former teammate Darren Jolly's tirade at Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, saying he too often had strong opinions about the club.

"If we thought that something was going to improve the club then we'd obviously our hand up and say it," Shaw said.

"Whether he (Buckley) took that on board or not, that's up to him.

"At the end of the day, we're there to win games of footy and we're there to improve.

"So it was never going to be anything that was against the club."

As his AFL career comes to an end, Darren Jolly accuses Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley of being a coward after failing to be picked up in the rookie draft.

"He [Buckley] probably found it a lot harder accepting that I had opinions about things and would give feedback on certain things that potentially he didn't like,'' Jolly told Fairfax Media.

''The day he told me I was no longer needed at the club and they weren't going to renew my contract, the reasons he was giving me were all excuses, and that was probably the main disappointment; that he couldn't man up and tell me face-to-face why I wasn't going to be at the club.''

Buckley responds by saying that Jolly refused to acknowledge the reality of his aging body.

"It is the worst time of a career when you're going down the other side and it is difficult to manage," Buckley said on SEN radio.

"Darren struggled with his body. He found that tough to deal with and that's the reality.

"It's not something you get used to, but when (director of football) Rodney Eade and I sat down and offered him our views, the ears were closed pretty quickly. It wasn't long, it was forthright and it ended pretty quickly."

The careers of delisted Magpies Alan Didak and Darren Jolly look over after neither player was selected in the pre-season or rookie drafts.

After being close to picking Darren Jolly in the rookie draft, St Kilda opt for midfield depth instead by selecting Maverick Weller.

"Really, Darren was still under consideration as recently as today," St Kilda head of football Chris Pelchen said.

"We hadn't cooled yesterday; he was still under consideration when the draft commenced today."

Darren Jolly's hopes of continuing his career as a delisted free agent with St Kilda is on hold while the Saints decide on a head coach following the sacking of Scott Watters.

Following the conclusion of the trade period, Darren Jolly's manager Paul Connors says he is still confident his client will find a new home after being delisted by the Magpies.

"He's been at the gym, he feels 24 again and, if a club takes a punt on Darren, they're going to be pleasantly surprised," Connors said.

"He will play a lot of senior football next year."

The Magpies inform Darren Jolly that he will be delisted at the end of the year.

Delisted ruckman Darren Jolly hopes to continue his career elsewhere.

"Contrary to popular belief his body is feeling great, he is up for the next challenge and he is keen to play on," Jolly's manager Paul Connors said.

Darren Jolly is set to miss three weeks after sustaining cartilage damage to his ribs against Carlton in round 2.

"If anyone's had a big whack in the ribs, they know how tough it can, especially for a ruckman where you're having to hold your body position so strongly against another 110kg gorilla," Magpies chief executive Gary Pert said.

"Until that pain goes away, that'll be a matter of two or three weeks, he can't compete."

Darren Jolly expresses his displeasure at the Laws of the Game Committee and Kevin Bartlett in particular for being determined to impose a cap on rotations.

"Kevin, you are and always will be a legend of our game, but you finished in 1983 – two years after I was born. Perhaps your comments are not relevant to today's game," Jolly said in a Fairfax Media column.

"I'm sure football played today is a whole lot quicker and more demanding than it was 30 years ago, when recovery consisted of cracking a beer, not sitting in an ice bath and then going home to bed …

"More than half of the rules committee have not played for many years, or have never played at all. They are making the rules that aren't relevant or sustainable for today's game, which is our living."

Pies ruckman Darren Jolly says the increase in the intensity of the game means he is unable to play a full season.

"I think gone are the days you can play out a full year. It's just impossible," Jolly said.

"You need to manage your players and we've certainly managed our players. I've been managed, which has been really good to get through the year unscathed and make sure you're flying at the end of the year."

Collingwood could use Ben Hudson in a ruck tandem with Darren Jolly next season, according to coach Nathan Buckley.

"Ben understands full well the position he'll be in … it will be a product of his form and the circumstances of the ruck situation at senior level," Buckley said.

"Who's to say those two [Jolly and Hudson] won't be rucking together by the end of the year?"

Pies believe recruit Quinten Lynch will ease the burden on main ruckman Darren Jolly.

"Quinten has done a lot of ruck work, and he's athletic himself and can run around," Magpies football and coaching strategist Rodney Eade said.

"I think that's going to ease the load on 'Jols'. We think we loaded him to probably the maximum of what we could [this year].

"It was a big load for him to carry and with Lynch coming in, who can ruck more during a game, I think that will share his load a bit … with a view of maybe giving him some breaks and managing him throughout the year."

Collingwood decides to rest Darren Jolly for the game against the Eagles as part of a bigger finals plan, says Rodney Eade.

He's just generally sore, he's got a few little minor ailments, and we just erred on the side of caution with the finals coming up," Eade said.

"It's a big workload for him and we just didn't want to risk him getting further injured."

Veteran ruckman Darren Jolly reassures Pies fans he has every intention of going around again in 2013.

"I've got plenty of games left yet," he said.

"As the cliché goes, I'm taking each week as it comes and making sure I get my body right for every game.

"I look forward to this year, and then I'll sit down and have a break and recharge and go again for next year."

Darren Jolly says former Melbourne Demons coach Neale Daniher was the catalyst for his decision to leave the club.

"If you weren't one of the star players or you were injured, then Neale wouldn't talk to you at all," Jolly wrote in a column for Fairfax newspapers.

"I approached Neale one day in his office to talk to him about something he said to me in a match, something that you don't want to hear as a young player trying your heart out to get a game. The conversation didn't turn out well and from that moment I knew I didn't want to play at Melbourne under Neale any more."

Collingwood ruckman Darren Jolly has labelled the AFL's video review system 'a joke'.

"It's a bit of a joke that they have to hold the game up for that amount of time,'' he said on Nova 100 radio.

I thought that the review system was just something they were trialling in the NAB Cup. I had no idea they were going to do it in the normal season.''

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says ruckman Cameron Wood has turned around his life and his career by becoming more committed after struggling to hold his spot against teammates Darren Jolly and the now-retired Leigh Brown in the past.

"We had discussions early last year and he's picked up off the back of that and really made some changes in his life," Buckley said.

"It's great to see a young person understand the situation they're in, and not expect things are just going to change without their will and their actions, and he's been able to do that."

Collingwood's Darren Jolly slams the new rule of two interchange players and two subsctitutes being trialled in the NAB Cup, saying it will lead to a spike in injuries.

"I hope to God they don't bring it in because it's going to slow the game down and it's going to cause more injuries because blokes have to stay out there longer," Jolly said.

"You'd think soft tissue (injuries would increase) because they've got to stay out there for longer."

Darren Jolly says his career is not over as doubters question whether he can come back from the injuries that hampered his 2011 season.

"Clearly they (the people saying I'm finished) don't know," he said.

"I've still got two years contracted, and hopefully my body holds up, and 'Bucks' (new coach Nathan Buckley) still likes me, and we'll try and squeeze another couple out of that."

Collingwood ruckman Darren Jolly is set to play his 200th game and says his troublesome knee is finally under control.

"It's fine, it feels really good. The swelling has completely gone and I just needed to get the strength back in it so I'm getting back to normal now," he said.

"At this stage, I won't need anything done. I'll just have to wait and see but I hope not. I don't have to do anything to it now, just continue with weights and focus on getting the strength back in it."

Collingwood ruckman Darren Jolly faces a further delay in his return from knee surgery.

"He'll definitely miss this week and it's unlikely he'll play the following week," Collingwood football operations manager Geoff Walsh said.

"From then on we're thinking that we'll get him up for round 10 where he would be able to get up and go."

Collingwood assistant coach Matthew Lappin denies that Darren Jolly is nursing an injury after being left out of the NAB Cup qualifying final.

"He's a pivotal part of our side and we're just conserving him and making sure he's right to go to get through the whole season," Lappin said.

"It's purely management. I think we all saw the impact he had on this group last year, how important he was, so we're just looking after him and making sure he's right to go for round one and beyond."

Dale Thomas says new teammate Darren Jolly has voiced his opinions on what Collingwood needs to do to crack its 20-year flag drought.

"He's been there, and he's really voiced his opinions since he got down to the club on what it takes to go that extra step," Thomas said.

Josh Fraser and Tarkyn Lockyer are replaced by Heath Shaw and new recruit Darren Jolly in Collingwood's leadership group.

"He's only 23, 24 years old now, so it takes time to mature and time to mature into an AFL footballer, so that's something that he's worked on, and we're rapt that he's in there. He's done a lot of good things already," Magpies skipper said of Shaw.

"He's really taking on young guys now. He's not just playing his own game - he's really trying to help the team and develop the young guys."

Darren Jolly dominated Collingwood's scratch match at Gosch's Paddock leaving his new teammates impressed.

"He can take a good mark down there, so he'll drift forward at times and have fair stints in the ruck and have his time on the bench," teammate Leigh Brown said of Jolly after the match.

"I think that's going to be a terrific advantage for the club."

New Collingwood recruit Darren Jolly is keen to repay the faith shown in him by the Magpies.

"I suppose I feel a little bit of pressure The club's put a fair bit of faith into me [by] giving me a four-year deal," he said.

"I'm not really paying much attention to it; I'm just trying to get out there and have a really good crack over pre-season and get to know everyone and get as fit and as strong as I can."

Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse hopes the addition of ruckman Darren Jolly will help the club win more ruck clearances.

"He's a premiership ruckman. He's competed against the best ruckmen and performed very well. We believe he will give us more offensive clearances," Malthouse said of Jolly while adding that the new addition may free up opportunities for Fraser to play in other areas of the ground.

"Josh might play as a ruck rover. He might play as a half-forward," Malthouse said.

New Collingwood ruckman Darren Jolly has sets his sights on winning a premiership for the Magpies.

They will be very exciting times at Collingwood in the next few years. I am happy to play my role and do my bit for the team and help them get that next step further and hopefully get a premiership," Jolly said.

Collingwood seals deal to secure Swans ruckman Darren Jolly in a trade.

The Magpies ultimately exchanged draft picks 14 and 46 in exchange for Jolly after being unable to come to terms with the Swans on Magpie players available for trade.

Swans ruckman Darren Jolly subscribes to the view that big men take longer than small men to develop into elite footballers after having one of his best seasons in 2009.

"I started when I was 19, so naturally you're going to have to grow into your body to have a bit of strength and a bit of size about you," he said.

"They've been saying for years and years that big blokes take longer to develop and it's probably true. I've had my best year so far and I'm enjoying being in my footy prime."

Heath Grundy launched himself over Swans ruckman Darren Jolly in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against Port Adelaide and took one of the best high marks seen at the SCG since Warwick Capper set the ground alight in the 1980s.

"You can't plan those sorts of things. I just went for the footy and I ended up taking it," he said when asked his recollection of the grab.

"I think it was Jolls I sat on and when I jumped, I thought I'd gone a bit early. But he gave me a bit of a ride and I managed to stay up there. It just worked out perfectly in the end."

Saturday night's clash between Eagle Dean Cox and Swan Darren Jolly will pit two of the game's in-form ruckmen.

"He is the elite ruckman in the competition and I think everyone wants to have a go at him," Jolly said of Cox.

"Dean is obviously an elite ruckman and I'd class him as a midfielder as well. He's got a huge engine, a huge tank. It's a big effort to try and run with him and it's something I'll try and counter this week.

"I enjoy the challenge of trying to go out there and beat him, but so far, I think he's beaten me every single time, so I'm really looking forward to Saturday."