Facing the dreaded hammy
YOU'RE flying. Not literally, yet when you run, you don't feel your feet hit the ground.
There are even calculated movements between the arms swinging back and forth, the knee-lift high and the cadence of leg turnover; all factors contributing to a fluid motion of running.
We have evolution to thank for making something so strenuous, seem so smooth.
Then of all of sudden, well - "ping" is the only way to describe the next feeling.
The chink in the armour of the fluid running motion becomes apparent, power seems to cease, muscles tighten and everything slows as the pain sets in.
That's the best way to describe a hamstring injury. Ask me that three weeks ago and I wouldn't have been able to tell you.
In an industry where the employee's biggest asset is his own body, it's not just the physical pain of injury that damages an AFL footballer.
The mental and emotional strain on a footballer becomes just as intense as the player embarks on a strict rehabilitation plan of modified weights, injury prevention tests, segregation from the rest of the playing group when they do their training, modified cardiovascular sessions and, away from the club, a strict imposition of the no-alcohol-when-injured policy.
Some players this year within the club have had long stints on the sidelines with injury, which has tested each and every one of them.
Most notable spectators have included Marc Murphy, whose shoulder injury kept him out since round 8, as well as Jarred Waite's back injury that has seen him out since round 9, Same Rowe's diagnosis of cancer in the early days of the season and, now, Jeremy Laidler's and Shaun Hampson's season-ending knee injuries.
In the lesser lights, in the VFL, Simon White, Levi Casboult, Marcus Davies and Nick Heyne all returned to playing last weekend after suffering respective, knee, shoulder and hamstring injuries.
It can be a cruel industry this AFL caper, and yet whilst there's a general consensus of given what players are put through to get fit and hardened for the season ahead during the pre-season period, as well as the season and intensity of the game we play; injuries are without doubt the worst part of the profession.
The positive of being injured however, is the knowledge of being in the most capable of hands in our rehabilitation and medical team.
With three full-time physiotherapists, two full-time myotherapists and a massage team of students who are gaining their work placement from RMIT university - working in tandem with the club doctor - you rest easy, knowing that these guys have your best interests at heart.
On top of this, our rehabilitation co-ordinator, Mark Homewood, works with the High Performance Manager, Justin Cordy, both to manage the workloads of an injured player, as well as writing them up modified programs to get them back out on the track as quickly as possible without losing the fitness or the general 'zing' they had before they were injured.
Homewood's job in particular is to supervise muscle rehabilitation programs. For instance, for a player who has injured their shoulder or AC joint, Mark makes an emphasis on strengthening the muscles around the joint to decrease the chance of any further dislocation or future fracture.
With 48 blokes on the list who are all busting their guts to be out on the track, and in a constant internal battle to fill the 22 spots in the team that runs out on the MCG in front of 80,000 fans, the medical team is under constant pressure from the coaching group to get every player firing and on the park so that there is a full complement of players to choose from when the match committee meeting rolls around.
It's often theorised that injuries and player availability correlates with team and club success, where a club list's depth is tested and, in Carlton's perspective, questioned.
Yet, having been in the rehab group for the past month with my own injury problems, I've seen a lot of players come in and come out; and as I look toward my return to playing next weekend, fingers crossed, there will be only three left in the rehab group, all of whom are not expected to return 'til pre-season 2013.
So with that in mind, look out for the Bluebagger's in the run home to the finals.
