On Sunday, North Melbourne’s Daniel Wells made Geelong open wide, and inflicted pain.
On Monday, it was Wells’ turn.
The 27-year-old underwent root canal surgery after bravely playing through the pain barrier in his side’s 17-point AFL upset of Geelong at Etihad Stadium.
Wells had struggled with tooth discomfort for several days leading up to the match.
The night before, his pain was so severe he was unable to sleep.
Yet Wells starred in the win with 31 touches.
He completed North’s recovery session on Monday morning, then went straight to the dentist to undergo root canal work to fix the problem.
“He did burn us this morning – came in early,” Kangaroos skipper Andrew Swallow joked of Wells’ quick departure from the club on Monday.
“He has had some trouble with his teeth and been in a bit of pain.
“But it just shows you the resilience he’s got and especially after an injury-interrupted pre-season.
“He’s had a lot of doubters over the years, but he’s finally starting to show that he can play well, especially against adversity.”
Wells had overcome life-threatening blood clots on the lungs during the off-season.
His performance against the Cats continued his emergence as the premier midfielder most thought he would have become far earlier after being taken as the No.2 draft pick in 2002.
North’s victory over the reigning premiers gives them a 2-1 win-loss record.
But for a missed Hamish McIntosh shot after the siren against Essendon in round one, the Kangaroos would have been unbeaten this season.
Swallow said the Geelong win would matter little if North could not back up the performance with another impressive effort against Sydney at the SCG on Sunday.
“We’ve got to recover really well now and get up there and make sure it’s not just a one-off win but we can start to string a few really quality wins against quality opposition,” Swallow said.
“We’re not going to hang our hat and season on one win. While it’s great and nice to beat the reigning premiers, it doesn’t mean a lot if we can’t back it up for the rest of the year.
“If the guys can do what we did on the weekend, we’ll be hard to beat.”
The Swans are unbeaten in their opening three matches.
