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.
More AFL Finals:
» 2014 AFL Finals – Who won, who lost
» What we learned from the first week of the AFL Finals
» 2014 AFL Draw
» AFL Finals homepage, full coverage
» Latest video highlights
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.
Eric
Guest
That the "media" feel they have a right to offer opinion when not across the facts, particularly in an area so fragile and specific as mental health, is horrendous. That the sufferer should then have to "stay out of the game" based on such opinion is even worse.
Ruthie
Guest
I agree. Sadly, after a Lisfranc injury like his I'm surprised he's still even contemplating playing.
Ruthie
Guest
Mitch suffered a bad injury of his foot. Not sure if anyone realises how debilitating, slow to improve Lisfranc foot injuries can be. The impact is massive and he is still suffering, ... And it's going to have a huge ongoing impact on his life. Depression, I would imagine, is a byproduct of a Lisfranc injury - they can be career ending, and cause post traumatic arthritis . It would be a huge shock for him and every time he walks, runs he will be reminded of it. Drop the character assassination of Mitch. http://www.msdlatinamerica.com/ebooks/PracticalOrthopaedicSportsMedicineArthrocopy/sid636974.html
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
I'd have a lot more faith in his ability to recover from the depression symptoms than in his body standing up to the rigours of AFL.
Gecko
Guest
Pies will have Mitch Clark. People who suffer mental depression can sometimes make a good recovery, can't they? Worth a reasonable investment (with performance-based incentives) because he's only 26 and is, at his best, a lot better than Jesse White. We'd probably be interested in Tom Scully and Liam Jurrah too, with performance-based incentives.
Roger
Guest
I'm with you too Tom. Well said, what you've noted in the above comments are facts that are open to interpretation. Purely becuase a person has a mental illness doesn't absolve them from having their decisions and motives questioned. You've been unfairly accused of 'insinuating' things, when you were commenting on things that can and should be discussed on a sports forum. I think your 'insinuation' is being confused with others' interpretation of what you said. And for the record, I do have experience with mental illness, having suffered from clinical depression for the best part of a decade. I found nothing about what you said insulting, and found it all valid. Well said.
The Oven
Guest
Swans will have him!
Kev
Guest
Get over yourself Tom. If you didn't want to be called out on it, then you shouldn't have insinuated it to start with. The only one who needs to man up is you. Perhaps you just don't like the fact that someone else knows more about a topic than you.
TomC
Roar Guru
You'd make a great cop Kev, with lines like 'you still continue to play the tired 'oh i'm innocent' card'. Innocent people end to play that card a lot, for what it's worth. You can attribute Clark's actions to whatever you like. I'm not going to do that. Apparently we can't comment on Clark's action or his football performance, even without judgement, because they might be linked to his mental health. Well, that is utterly ridiculous. I cannot believe you or anyone else could think that, and all I can think is that at some level you realise you've behaved poorly, and now you are lashing out rather than man up and apologise. But you can rest assured that at least I understand that you understand you've done the wrong thing. Some people just aren't capable of admitting it and that's the way it is.
Kev
Guest
You still don't get it and you still continue to play the tired "Oh I'm innocent" card. These are just 3 of your comments: - "It’s hard not to notice that he walked out of Brisbane at their lowest point, and walked out of Melbourne at their lowest point." - "I just don’t think ‘leading a club out of the darkness’ appeals to him. But more importantly, I don’t think he’s capable of it." -"I’m just noting his history. I haven’t drawn any connection at all to his character, stomach, or his state of mind." What you can't get through your head, is that all of that can reasonably be attributed to his battle with depression. By saying he doesn't want to or isn't capable of leading a team from the bottom of the ladder, by saying he walked out of a club at their lowest point, you are indirectly taking a shot at his mental state, whether you admit it or not. In his case, you cannot comment on his football performance without taking a shot at his mental state as the two are tied together.
Kev
Guest
You insinuated it in your initial comment whether you would like to admit it or not.
TomC
Roar Guru
Yeah, we can probably assume that both clubs started with optimistic offers, and slowly came together over the days. That said, while Freo offering pick 29 is consistent with what Rob Kerr said after the trade period, I've never heard it said that the Lions asked for 16 and Zac Clarke.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Good point Darren, and I think we have all learned quite a bit during this thread, especially those of us who were ignorant, for want of a better word, to begin with. If not thanking you for being courageous Olivia, then still, thank-you for taking the time and putting in the effort to share your experiences.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Excellent comment once more Olivia, you've been able to shed great light on the subject. You are suggesting that Melbourne may be a trigger for him, even if he has recovered. The AFL compensation point is a good one in that case.
Balthazar
Guest
TomC, this is my recollection as well. Interestingly there is a similar discussion on bigfooty at the moment. The Freo supporters there also recall that Brisbane wanted either pick 16 and Zac Clarke (I mentioned this to you earlier) or 16 and the Rhys Palmer comp pick (20). Freo started with pick 29 - Brisbane with those demands - and they were both ambit positions. Freo then offered pick 20 (not accepted) and by the time they offered pick 16, Melbourne had already offered pick 12. At that stage, Freo still in the box seat and expecting to lodge papers because Clark had knocked Melbourne back. The Schwabolly did what they do and offered Clark $200k more than the Freo offer. Freo bowed out, saying it would have made Clark the highest paid player on their list.
Cameron Rose
Expert
I'm with you on this one Tom. We are still allowed to have an opinion on his football history, and assess things in the cold light of day, whether we have or haven't battled mental illness.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Mark Neeld gets a lot of airplay for presiding over a train-wreck, but Primus seems to get forgotten. You can make the case that his handling of Port was worse than anything Neeld did at Melbourne, if subsequent results are anything to go by.
TomC
Roar Guru
I'm just noting his history. I haven't drawn any connection at all to his character, stomach, or his state of mind. And writing in capital letters doesn't change that. This is a farce.
TomC
Roar Guru
First I've heard of Freo offering their first round pick and Brisbane asking for both first and second rounders, Dalgety. Where'd you get that from?
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
Which is probably after Mitch acted like he didn't really want to come home. My guess is that Young convinced Clark to take the money and now he's trying to justify it to himself.