Australian men’s Sevens coach Andy Friend is still reeling from the events that put his Commonwealth Games captain James Stannard in hospital on Good Friday morning.
An emotional Friend spoke to media on Saturday afternoon about the events leading up to the moment James Stannard was hit, and the moment he believed one of the team’s most popular players may have been killed.
“I didn't see the hit, all I saw was James falling and then I saw him hit the ground very hard,” he said.
“My instinct was that it wasn't good, it was fatal.
“My instinct then was to make sure that the offender was not going to get away from that.”
The Sevens team, family and staff had thrown a surprise farewell function for the outgoing Friend at the Crowne Plaza Coogee, before continuing on to the Coogee Bay Hotel.
Standing outside a Coogee Bay Rd kebab shop at 3:10am on Friday morning, a 22-year-old British man allegedly punched Stannard in the head, with the 35-year-old falling and hitting the footpath.
Friend and two of Stannard’s teammates - Lewis Holland and Ben O’Donnell - pursed the offender and detained him until police arrived, a series of events that Friend said still felt like a blur.
“[It was] one of those surreal moments when the world stops and sadly I've seen that situation before, so that didn't help the situation but my instinct was initially James.
“I went straight to James and he wasn't moving, he was unconscious and then it was to make sure the perpetrator didn't get away.”
As the days have ticked on, it appears Stannard has been immensely fortunate, with the halfback likely to be released from St Vincent’s Hospital on Sunday, Friend said.
“He's had a clearance from the neurosurgeon, the ear, nose and throat specialist as well.
“Every indication at this point in time, is there'll be no long-term damage to James, he will be fine.
“There was a suggestion he may even leave hospital today.
“I think at this point in time, personal choice of James and his family is that he'll look to stay another day, but all the indications are very, very positive for James, which is the most important.”
That his prognosis is a positive one is a relief for his teammates, who Friend said had rallied around Stannard in the past two days.
"It's one of those moments in life you question, 'Why t do these things happen?', but it has happened," he said.
"I think the comfort and the support that they've offered James is testament to the group.
"I think the pleasing thing for the group is that they know that James is now going to be fine and as disappointing as it is that james will not be playing at the Comm Games, they know that his future's bright and that's the most important thing."
Friend defended the fact that the group were out so late, with some questions being asked in the wake of the incident as to why they weren’t at home in bed.
“I get it - people will assume because you're out at 3 o'clock in the morning that you're doing something wrong,” he said.
“I've been a coach for 23 years I've been to a lot of those events where you smell something going wrong.
“That was not that night. That night was a night that was just a beautiful gesture on behalf, or from the team.
“There was a lot of positive energy and to be honest, it was a night that I didn’t want to finish and other players did not want that night to finish. It was just a sharing of good times and emotion.
“People make their own assessments and that but I will assure you it was not a boozy affair that was going to turn sour.”
Stannard definitely will not play in next month’s Commonwealth Games, but he will likely still travel with the team to the tournament, with Brandon Quinn elevated into the playing 12.
His replacement as captain is yet to be determined, though Tom Lucas and Jesse Parahi are the other two members of the leadership squad.
Stannard had taken the captaincy from usual skipper Lewis Holland, who will miss the Commonwealth Games with a hamstring injury.
This isn’t the first time Friend has dealt with a team facing emotional trauma - he was Brumbies coach when Shawn Mackay was killed in a car accident, while his wife Kerri suffered a serious brain injury after a bike accident in 2010.
