Geelong premiership player and Norm Smith medallist Steve Johnson spent Tuesday night in hospital after sustaining a punctured abdomen following an incident with a knife.
While the goalkicking great suffered damage to his bowels, Johnson was not attacked, rather suffering the wound after a knife in a bag he was carrying protruded into his stomach.
As first reported by Jay Clark of The Herald Sun, the former Cat and Giant was attended to by a neighbouring nurse at his Wangaratta property before being sent to a nearby hospital and undergoing surgery on Tuesday night.
Clark stated that the triple premiership winner had been punctured by his own knife after it had pierced the bag it was contained in after making contact with the gate of Johnson's property.
Johnson, now a special comments pundit on Triple M and News Corp columnist is expected to make a full recovery.
Drafted by Geelong with the 24th pick of the 2001 'Super Draft', Johnson spent 14 seasons at Kardinia Park, tasting premiership success in 2007, 2009 and 2011.
The outspoken matchwinner spent the final two seasons of his 293-game, 516-goal career with GWS, eventually bowing out at the end of 2017 with three All-Australian blazers and the 2007 Norm Smith Medal to his name.