When Mike Heffernan collided with Murray Weideman in a practice match during the 1962 pre-season, dislocating his shoulder in the process, it’s fair to say that he knew what he was dealing with.

After all, it was the sixth time he had dislocated his shoulder during his brief footy career.

So it’s no surprise that he decided to retire at that point, and focus instead on his medical studies and career.

It really had been the most unfortunate of football journeys.

Mike came to Collingwood in 1961, with the club having previously tried to get him down from Seymour as early as 1958. He played in the club’s practice matches that year as an 18-year-old, and after the last one the club said he had been 'conspicuous' at centre half-back and should have a good football career. But they also mentioned that he was studying medicine and might not be available for the 1958 season, and that's exactly how it turned out.

The Magpies renewed their interest in the solidly-built half-back flanker for the 1961 season, by which time Mike was in his fourth year of study at Melbourne University and had played the previous year with Uni Blues. He played in the intraclub practice matches, and The Sun newspaper was taken with one of his early showings: "Heffernan (University) quickly caught the eye with several well-timed dashes from centre half-back, and as the game progressed he showed that he could become an excellent half-back flanker."

Mike was then chosen to be part of a Magpie team that played Frankston in a final hitout. He shone in this game: the club newsletter remarked that he was “a strong defender who took control on almost every occasion the ball went into his area.” And that seems to have secured his spot on the final list.

He made his senior debut against Carlton in Round 6, but his debut passed largely without fanfare. Then he injured his thigh the following week against Essendon and didn’t play another senior game, though he put in some good performances in the reserves.

It was still a bit of a surprise when he got caught up in the infamously deep list-culling exercise that Collingwood went through at the end of the 1961 season. No fewer than 15 senior players were delisted, and Mike was one of them, bluntly told that he would need to look elsewhere to continue his career.

But early in 1962, Mike talked the Magpie selectors into giving him another crack. That’s why he was playing in the practice match at the end of March in which he once again dislocated his troublesome shoulder. He retired straight afterwards, but then came back again to play some further football late in the 1962 season with the reserves.

That seems to have been it for Mike Heffernan and his football career at Collingwood. It’s not known if he played anywhere else, or if he just focused on his medical career. He would go on to become a highly respected doctor, enjoying much better fortune in his medical career than he had in his football days.