SAM Docherty has been as stoic, strong and resilient as they come.

After all, how do you feature in Round 1 less than six months after completing chemotherapy?

Already one of the most-respected figures in the game, that was lifted another several notches when Docherty starred in his return to football, prompting one of the more emotionally charged scenes in recent memory with his goal against Richmond.

However, it’s safe to say that while Docherty has been a pillar of strength externally, his recovery from testicular cancer took its toll.

Speaking at length to Channel 7’s Hamish McLachlan in an all-encompassing, gripping interview, Docherty opened up about his emotions and his journey back to football.

“I really struggled. I can’t walk around that,” a raw Docherty said.

“Unfortunately I seem to keep coming into a new level of ‘the worst thing that’s happening in my life’. My old man passing away, my ACLs, my cancer — I keep getting a dose of perspective that I’d prefer not to learn this way.

“The start was really scary. Finding out that it had progressed that far and not understanding where I was going with it all, that was the most scary by a fair stretch.

“[But] I’m a big believer that whatever happens to you in life will change you and shape you.”

It was a routine check last year which revealed to Docherty that the cancer had come back and went into his lymph nodes, progressing to his lungs and stomach.

While his reaction to the news was much more pragmatic compared to his first diagnosis, he still had to come to terms with it being more aggressive than his first encounter.

The ground swell of support which Docherty received among close quarters - and yet also far and wide - was something that he stressed countless times throughout the 20-minute interview.

“I laugh about it now, but the first one I got when they told me I had cancer, I guarantee this is a lot of people’s responses — I just thought I was going to die. It’s the first thing I associated with cancer,” he said.

“The second time, it was ‘let’s get the treatment, we know what they’re there to do, it’s a treatable cancer’. At the same time, I was far more nervous because it had progressed a hell of a lot more than we were thinking.

“This whole process, my friends and family have been unbelievable. I genuinely don’t think I would’ve been able to get through the whole ideal without them. 

“I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to choose a wife that, through thick and thin, has been there for me. She has helped me through absolutely everything there is in life. 

“I said this to the boys when I got the diagnosis and when I told them all, it was that I was going to need to lean on a lot of people. Inevitably, I did, and every person to a man stood up when they had to.”

There was the personal support that Docherty received. Socially distanced visits from family and friends, food being dropped at his door, conversations with teammates.

And then there was the wide-reaching support which shone through in the ‘Doing it for Doc’ campaign.

What started out as an idea and a show of support from Patrick Cripps and Lil O’Sullivan (famously with a target of $5,000) ending with over $200,000 being raised for the Peter Mac Foundation — and a lot more shaved heads in the process.

For someone who has constantly told his story in the media in recent seasons - whether it was injury-related, health-related or otherwise - it was the recount of this campaign which brought the normally unflappable Docherty to tears.

“I’m going to cry over this bit,” he said.

“The thing that made me most proud was it wasn’t people donating $2,000 or $5,000 or $10,000. I had messaged on there of kids giving up their pocket money for the week, like $5. Kids tagging me on Instagram shaving their heads.

“I sat there crying in hospital for about half a day from the impact of other people that I don’t even know. They know me as a footballer, but they don’t know me personally.

“They’re shaving their heads in respect for my journey. I got to see a really good part of the world and people — in today’s age, it’s hard to find sometimes.

“The group at the Club that threw it all together, to all the boys that shaved their heads and staff to the media team that pumped it all up, it got so big and went so far above anything that we thought it would do.”

And then, extraordinarily, there was Round 1.

The story well and truly did the media rounds just under a fortnight ago when it was confirmed Docherty would make his return. When he met up with Michael Voss on 14 October, he told the Senior Coach - the first time he had seen him since their time at Brisbane in 2013 - that he was going to play in the season opener.

At the time, he was 10 kilograms off his playing weight. He had no hair, and was weeks away from his most difficult point.

And yet, on 17 March, there he was at the MCG, kicking a goal that would’ve blown the roof off if the home of football had one.

“The [script writers] did a bloody good job of that one,” he said.

“If you don’t have the dream, you’ll never get there. [Voss] asked what me goal was and it was to be there for Round 1: that was being genuinely honest. It was probably the competitor in me.

“Looking back now, I can’t believe that I got there. I can’t believe it now.

“But during the time of me trying to get back, there was no way I wasn’t going to be there.”

The video at the top of this article is the featured which aired at half time of the Channel 7 broadcast on Thursday night. The full 20-minute interview is available on 7plus, which can be viewed here.