If you know anything about the game of AFL, you would have heard of Will Ashcroft. Will recently starred in the AFL Grand Final, earning himself the Norm Smith Medal for the player of the match for the second year in a row. While Will has won many awards for his on-field performances, there was one of his earlier awards that he can thank chiropractic for…
It was in 2018 during the Under 15 Australian AFL Schoolboys Championships in Adelaide… Will and my son, Dan were representing Queensland.
A young Will Ashcroft and Dan Lanthois receiving their U15 AFL Schoolboys Qld jumpers
Will, being the son of a famous AFL player already had an outstanding reputation as a junior. As a result, it was not surprising for Will to be targeted by opposition teams and players. In the second match of the week against South Australia, Will was on the receiving end of some pretty heavy collisions.
In the change rooms at the end of the game, there was a lot of attention around Will by the team trainers. I had just finished adjusting Dan (who had copped his own nasty hit) when Will’s mum, Bec approached me and introduced herself.
“Your Dan’s Dad. The chiropractor, right? ” I nodded. “Would you please be able to check Will?”
Bec brought a visibly distressed and frustrated Will over to me. “I can’t turn my neck at all. I won’t be able to play like this! ” he remarked to his Mum.
“Well, let’s first see if Dan’s dad can help,” she replied, trying to calm him.
When I examined Will, he could only turn his head 5-10 degrees to the left before a stabbing pain seared into his left shoulder blade causing him to recoil. The same thing happened when he tried to bend his neck to the left.
I was able to locate four spinal subluxations in his upper thoracic spine (the base of the neck between his upper shoulder blades) where four spinal joints were severely locked and restricted. This was irritating the nerves, causing intense pain and inflammation, and was restricting his ability to move.
I performed 2 adjustments to Will’s upper thoracic spine to unlock the jammed-up spinal joints. Will got up and was able to turn his head almost fully to the left but the last 20 degrees of movement was quite still painful… but it was progress. This progress gave him hope…
” I think I can work with this. Yep, I might be right to play,” he declared to his mum.
He then turned to me with a look of calmness and steely determination, “What do I need to do to manage this throughout the rest of the carnival?”
I gave him an outline of mobility exercises to do, foods to eat and avoid to reduce the inflammation but I emphasised that the single most important thing he needed to do was to get himself adjusted regularly. I told him to come and get me an hour before each game and after each game to get adjusted for the duration of the carnival.
For the rest of the carnival, Will didn’t skip a beat… He followed every single thing that I suggested to enhance his recovery. More importantly, he didn’t miss one single chiropractic adjustment.
With the assistance of chiropractic, Will performed exceptionally well throughout the rest of the carnival and was rewarded with selection in the Under 15s All-Australian Team. As his recent Grand Final performance showed, there have been many more awards to follow in his career.
Will after winning his 2nd Norm Smith medal for best on ground at the 2025 AFL Grand Final