Tell me a little about yourself as a physiotherapist.

Greg: 'I’m a specialist sports physiotherapist and I’ve been involved in sports physiotherapy for quite a few years.

'I have worked and toured with various teams for many years, including the Australian swimming team at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane and several New South Wales and Australian Rugby Union teams, and at the Australian Indoor Tennis Championships, again for a number of years.

'For the past six years I’ve been with the Sunshine Coast Lightning netball team, touring with them and then treating them in the clinic.

'I’ve just retired from the clinical practice I set up on the Sunshine Coast in 2008, The Knee Joint Sports Physiotherapy.

'I’m a Specialist Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2008) and an APA Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist and I’ve taught musculoskeletal students at the University of Queensland.'

Jordy: I’m an APA Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist and an APA Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist.

'I run a private practice on the Sunshine Coast and I do some lecturing with the Australian Catholic University in Brisbane, [which was] initially in their undergrad program and [is] now for their postgrad master’s degree program.

'I also do some physio in the sports world, at the moment just with Football Australia.'

How did you each get into physiotherapy as a career?

Greg: 'I did child psychology at the University of New South Wales in my first year.

'Just before the end of the year, I asked one of the doctors, ‘How come you don’t take these problems home?’ because they were pretty horrible cases.

'And he said, ‘Well, that’s why I’m lecturing. So if you think you’re going to take them home, maybe this isn’t the career for you.’

'I kept doing a double major and went to the library and one of my friends said, ‘Why don’t you think about physio? You can do sports.’

'I thought that sounded good, even though I didn’t know what it was then, to tell you the truth. I found out more about it and then swapped over to do physio.'

Jordy: 'I have lots of memories growing up in physio practices and sporting fields.

'When I was young I didn’t want to be a physio, but then in Year 10 they asked us to start thinking about careers and the subjects we liked.

'Words like patella and femur had been a natural part of my vocabulary almost from before I could talk and it was pretty clear that I enjoyed sports and injuries and anatomy, so I changed my mind—in that moment I decided that’s what I wanted to do and I haven’t wavered since.

'I did a sports science degree similar to Dad and then came through the Master of Physiotherapy at the University of Sydney, graduating in 2008. I moved up to the Sunshine Coast after that and worked for Dad at The Knee Joint.

Jordan, did seeing your dad work as a physiotherapist influence your career path?

Jordy: 'I was very fortunate to be in a unique position to see my dad working as a sports physio.

'And I guess as a 15- or 16-year-old you have no idea how competitive it is and you think that’s just what Dad does and he chose it and so that’s why he does it.

Like father, like son: Jordy Craig (left) followed in the steps of his dad Greg. and became a sports physiotherapist.

'Then you come through the pathway and realise that only a few are lucky enough to get into that world. It’s a tough world; it’s got its sacrifices like any job.

'Realising how tough it was to get to that level opened my eyes a lot.

Greg, what did you think when Jordan decided to follow in your footsteps and become a physiotherapist?

Greg: 'My first thought was just pride and then it went from there. He excelled at anatomy and everything he did.

'When he graduated he was my assistant until he got his registration and he worked at The Knee Joint for about 10 years.

'From the day he started working with us, he was always going to be better than me.

'He’s always shown an unbelievable will to learn. Jordy’s knowledge of anatomy and the body is superb.'

What have you taught each other about physio?

Jordy: 'Dad would want me to say the pivot shift, so I’d better say that or I won’t be allowed to come to dinner tomorrow night.

'To be honest, he taught me about dedication and humility. I think what I learnt the most from him is the way he has carried himself through many, many years of being a clinician.

'I try to hold myself up to that standard; it’s the way I was brought up. There’s not many physios I know who are Dad’s age who have stayed working as a treating clinician at a clinical practice.

'A lot of people move out and into different streams of physio for various reasons—it’s a taxing job, a very consuming sort of role.

'He did that with humility and continued to balance his life and family around it and they’re always the things that I have tried to do like him.

'I couldn’t do what I do now without Dad’s patience and dedication in teaching me and I will always be grateful for his guidance in my career.'

Greg: 'Jordy’s knowledge of papers and evidence-based practice is superb.

'Because we’ve always had an open clinic, everybody learns from everybody, whether you’re one year out or 20 years or a little bit more than that.

'It’s a learning experience and often you learn by listening and asking questions rather than someone actually sitting you down and talking to you.''

What was it like working together?

Greg: It was the best part of my career, to tell you the truth.

'I’d still love him to be working with us but he had to go out on his own and he’s done an amazing job. It was a great 10 years.

'And I learnt probably just as much from him as he learnt from me.'

Jordy: 'I loved working with Dad. Our relationship’s pretty special, so I’ve been able to take that to the workplace. I had a great time.

'I think the happiest part of my years in physio was working with Dad and being able to share that with him.

'After watching him and idolising him over so many years for doing what he did, it was pretty cool to take on that space.

'On the clinical side of things, it was hard being Greg’s son there for a while—to be able to live up to what he had done in our profession.

'He set a pathway for a lot of sports physios to get to where they are—it was challenging in that respect.

'But I loved every minute of learning from him and having that guidance as often as I did. It’s something I won’t ever take for granted.'

Is there anything you disagree on?

Jordy: 'I think we had a disagreement about whether the lower back could cause knee pain, but that was the only problem we had.

'That was about all we disagreed on, wasn’t it, Dad?'

Greg: 'I don’t think I ever said it couldn’t cause it, but there were an awful lot of musculoskeletal physios who would not examine the knee; they would just go straight to the back.

'I think that’s what I said. But you know I would never claim to be good at the spine.

'It’s true—back in my era, the musculoskeletal course was a three-month course. A little bit less than what Jordy had to do.'

Jordy: 'Some music choices in the clinic was probably the only thing we really disagreed on. And I used to take the piss out of him; I was the only one who would do that.

'The staff didn’t know how to because they were too scared of him and I think because of our relationship I probably overstepped the mark sometimes.'

Do you still give each other feedback or advice?

Greg: 'I don’t think that’ll ever stop. Jordy’s a magnificent physio so we still talk about it. But he really only asks me about [the area] from halfway through the thigh down to the ankle.'

Jordy: 'I’m so lucky to have Dad as someone whom I can ask questions and bounce ideas off.

'He will still check in and ask a few things and when I’ve got difficult patients, I can just draw on his experience and get his lowdown on it.'

Is there anything you’d like to tell each other about your shared experiences as physios? Any highlights?

Greg: Having Jordy working with me was fantastic.

'I’ve been lucky across my career in different things—travelling with sporting teams, working with different sports.

'But working with Jordy in the clinic and setting up The Knee Joint here in Queensland with Jordy has been magnificent.'

Jordy: 'I think when I finish this career, I’ll look back on spending time with Dad as a physio as being pretty special.

'Not many fathers and their sons and daughters get to do that—we were able to spend a fair chunk of our career together.

'I was lucky to get the back end of his career and the knowledge that he has. He’s always been the biggest support in my career.

'There’s no chance I would be anywhere near where I am without Dad’s support and the way that he’s pushed me.

'I’ve been very lucky to have a mentor, a best mate and a dad in one go. I can’t ask too much more than that.'