It was one of the most memorable moments of the AFLW season, but not necessarily for the right reasons, when Collingwood captain Steph Chiocci ran through Bulldog Libby Birch, earning herself a two-match suspension for her efforts.

But Birch is nothing if not tough, and despite being visibly rattled, she played on and helped lead the Dogs to a critical eight-point victory over the home side in the Round 5 Battle of Moe.

What those at the ground or watching on TV didn’t see was what was happening in the middle of the pack of Bulldogs players surrounding their fallen teammate.

Speaking to the debut episode of the Bob Murphy and Adrian Brown hosted podcast, Freedom in a Cage, Birch said the scenes were almost comical.

“Because it was right above the forehead, there’s obviously arterial blood flow there so the girls were saying it was pulsating like a fountain with the heartbeat,’’ she laughed.  

‘’It was going nuts.  I didn’t realise because I was completely out of it but it was insane.

‘’Apparently the players were trying to put their hands on it and thought, it’s probably not health and safety there, so they started to put my hand on it because it was absolutely spitting out.’’

To listen to the full episode that included a guest appearance from Western Bulldogs senior coach Luke Beveridge, click here.