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If Mitch Clark returns to the AFL at anywhere other than the Melbourne Football Club, he will lose all of the respect he gained from the football world in his two seasons there.
All the goodwill that was sent his way in his battle with depression will also dry up.
Depression is real, and it is serious, and having had zero experience with it myself, I am in no way qualified to write about anything to do with it. But as fans of any given sport, we do reserve the right to discuss actions that affect it.
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If Mitch Clark does return to the AFL, especially if not to the Demons, his motivations and behaviours will be discussed and questioned, torn apart and analysed. He will have to be mentally prepared for that and hopefully be in a sound position to absorb it, particularly any negativity that may come his way.
Clark spent six seasons at the Brisbane Lions. Once he had matured as a player, his last three years there was as a near All-Australian ruckman in 2009, a 50-50 ruck-forward in 2010 and a mediocre to average forward in 2011.
Having publicly declared an interest in returning to his home state of Western Australia as a reason for wanting to leave Brisbane, Clark decided to accept a substantial four-year contract at Melbourne instead.
No-one could have predicted the downward spiral the Demons would go on once he arrived, reaching a nadir not seen since the dying days of Fitzroy. But nor could anyone have predicted the beacon of strength and hope that Mitch Clark would provide in such dark times.
Sportsmen are often judged more harshly when things get tough than when everything is going well. Those that rise up under such adversity garner the most admiration and respect. Clark became one of these players at Melbourne during the short-lived Mark Neeld era, despite only playing in 15 games over the two seasons. His influence was greater than many players who have played 115 games.
He set the example as a leading forward, crashing every pack, marking many and gathering the crumbs at ground level or laying a fierce bump or tackle, impressing all with his second and third efforts.
More than anything else, he gave hope to a supporter base that was starved of it.
In return, he was respected and revered within the club, loved by the fans, and most importantly, supported through every available resource when his battle with depression was made public. Melbourne showed great maturity and strong leadership in putting the health of the player first, second and third. It was all that mattered.
And now, if Mitch Clark believes he is ready to return to the rigours of AFL football, he owes it to Melbourne to go back and help lead them out of the darkness again.
If he feels that he needs to go back to Perth to have the support of family and friends, then that is understandable. If he requests to go anywhere else, then he will likely find nothing but ill-will, both from a fan-base that loved him and the football community at large.
Hopefully Mitch Clark’s mind and body is right. Hopefully Mitch Clark returns to the AFL. Hopefully Mitch Clark becomes a Demon once again.