Not sure if many of you Tigers fans would know about this article in the Adelaide Advertiser today regarding former Kangaroos midfielder and now Port Adelaide Magpies Jeremy Clayton so I thought I would post it here anyway.
Not yet right for AFL, says Clayton
By ANDREW CAPEL
12dec05
MAGAREY Medallist Jeremy Clayton has just made the toughest decision of his life by turning down the chance to revive the AFL career he so desperately wants.
Guaranteed by Richmond that he would be selected with the No. 5 pick at tomorrow's pre-season draft, Clayton last week told the Tigers his damaged body wasn't yet up to the demands of AFL football.
Three months after rupturing his spleen - and losing two litres of blood - in the Port Adelaide Magpies' SANFL qualifying final win against Woodville-West Torrens, Clayton is still feeling the effects of the shocking injury.
He is well on the road to recovery - his doctor last week gave him the all-clear to resume full contact training - but aerobically he is at just 60 per cent of his capacity. He has been told it could be another six months before he regains the endurance he had before his injury, sustained in a fair bump from Mark Passador.
"It's terribly disappointing but I had to be honest with Richmond," Clayton, 24, said from Melbourne yesterday. "They've been good to me and I had to be fair to them and I didn't want to go to the AFL under these circumstances, not be fit to play, stuff up and blow my last chance at it."
Diminutive rover Clayton, who played nine games with the Kangaroos in 2003-04 before being delisted and joining the Magpies last season, had been talking to Richmond since the SANFL finals in September.
After the national draft, the Tigers - largely through the influence of assistant coach David King - decided they would take a punt on Clayton, despite his small 175cm, 78kg frame. King is a big admirer of the ball magnet, having played with him at the Kangaroos.
"I would have loved to have been re-drafted but my body's still not right so I had to ring them and tell them that they can't be babying a (soon-to-be) 25-year-old," said Clayton, who won this year's Magarey in his first season in the SANFL.
"It was a tough call - probably the toughest I've had to make - but I had to be honest with them. And the last thing you want to do is do the wrong thing by a bloke who has been trying to look after you (King)."
Clayton has been training with Port since pre-season work began three weeks ago. He has been doing all the running and ball work and says he feels okay. The tell-tale sign of his struggles however is his endurance running. Instead of finishing among the main group - as he always has - he is labouring.
"I've been running out of gas," Clayton conceded, adding he was on track to play in the opening round of the SANFL next season but that he wouldn't be able to do full AFL training. "Where I can be (fitness-wise) and where I am at the moment are worlds apart."
Clayton, who had an 8cm split in his spleen, is of the understanding that because his spleen is still recovering, his blood oxygen levels are down, resulting in less endurance.
After Clayton's revelation, Richmond decided it would bypass the pre-season draft and instead focus on securing four rookies at the rookie draft.
"(Richmond coach) Terry Wallace said that age is no barrier to me and that if I have a good season I'd be a good chance of being taken next year," Clayton said. "As much as I would have loved to have gone this year, at the end of the day I'm sure it would have turned sour, so I'm pretty confident I made the right decision."
Not yet right for AFL, says Clayton
By ANDREW CAPEL
12dec05
MAGAREY Medallist Jeremy Clayton has just made the toughest decision of his life by turning down the chance to revive the AFL career he so desperately wants.
Guaranteed by Richmond that he would be selected with the No. 5 pick at tomorrow's pre-season draft, Clayton last week told the Tigers his damaged body wasn't yet up to the demands of AFL football.
Three months after rupturing his spleen - and losing two litres of blood - in the Port Adelaide Magpies' SANFL qualifying final win against Woodville-West Torrens, Clayton is still feeling the effects of the shocking injury.
He is well on the road to recovery - his doctor last week gave him the all-clear to resume full contact training - but aerobically he is at just 60 per cent of his capacity. He has been told it could be another six months before he regains the endurance he had before his injury, sustained in a fair bump from Mark Passador.
"It's terribly disappointing but I had to be honest with Richmond," Clayton, 24, said from Melbourne yesterday. "They've been good to me and I had to be fair to them and I didn't want to go to the AFL under these circumstances, not be fit to play, stuff up and blow my last chance at it."
Diminutive rover Clayton, who played nine games with the Kangaroos in 2003-04 before being delisted and joining the Magpies last season, had been talking to Richmond since the SANFL finals in September.
After the national draft, the Tigers - largely through the influence of assistant coach David King - decided they would take a punt on Clayton, despite his small 175cm, 78kg frame. King is a big admirer of the ball magnet, having played with him at the Kangaroos.
"I would have loved to have been re-drafted but my body's still not right so I had to ring them and tell them that they can't be babying a (soon-to-be) 25-year-old," said Clayton, who won this year's Magarey in his first season in the SANFL.
"It was a tough call - probably the toughest I've had to make - but I had to be honest with them. And the last thing you want to do is do the wrong thing by a bloke who has been trying to look after you (King)."
Clayton has been training with Port since pre-season work began three weeks ago. He has been doing all the running and ball work and says he feels okay. The tell-tale sign of his struggles however is his endurance running. Instead of finishing among the main group - as he always has - he is labouring.
"I've been running out of gas," Clayton conceded, adding he was on track to play in the opening round of the SANFL next season but that he wouldn't be able to do full AFL training. "Where I can be (fitness-wise) and where I am at the moment are worlds apart."
Clayton, who had an 8cm split in his spleen, is of the understanding that because his spleen is still recovering, his blood oxygen levels are down, resulting in less endurance.
After Clayton's revelation, Richmond decided it would bypass the pre-season draft and instead focus on securing four rookies at the rookie draft.
"(Richmond coach) Terry Wallace said that age is no barrier to me and that if I have a good season I'd be a good chance of being taken next year," Clayton said. "As much as I would have loved to have gone this year, at the end of the day I'm sure it would have turned sour, so I'm pretty confident I made the right decision."
:hihi
