Some Golden Soft Sombrero Moments with David Clarkson Clarkson on serious injury… Diegos: 'The Diegos don't mind admitting to the football world that we cried unashamedly when we heard about your serious knee injury in pre-season. This has been your second knee reconstruction and no mate of the Four Diegos deserves that. Can you take us through what happened on that fateful day and what's the medical prognosis on the injury? Clarkson: 'It was actually just at training. The whole thing was pretty innocent. I ran into the 'Big Horse' Vaughan Coveny and came off second best. I think I had my knee at an awkward angle but at the time it really wasn't that painful. Something told me though, having had a knee injury before, that things weren't good. I had an MRI scan the following night which didn't really tell me anything so I went to see the surgeon the next day and he confirmed after a feel around, that it had definitely gone. So I had a full knee reconstruction which included the anterior cruciate, the medial ligament and cartilage to boot. After eight weeks I've started full rehab so I'm really getting stuck into that at the moment.' Soft Sombrero Moment September 2001
Diegos: 'Of course since your injury Vaughan has suffered a serious ankle injury too. You didn't get the old voodoo doll out to exact a bit of revenge did you?' Clarkson: 'No guys I can confirm that I didn't put a spell on him or anything like that. It's all pretty bad timing for us at the moment though. We have been short on numbers and it's going to be tough. The core of the team is still there but once we start getting an excessive amount of injuries and suspensions we could be in for a long season. On the other hand it's a good opportunity for a couple of young guys to step up.' Soft Sombrero Moment September 2001
Diegos: 'That little ball of muscle and mongrel in the AFL, Tony Liberatore incredibly came back from a 12 month knee reconstruction injury in about three months. We know that like 'Libba' you don't mind the trash talk and a man-to-man tagging role but are you able to replicate his recuperative efforts? Clarkson: 'I'd love to get back in that time but I don't want to set my sights on it. You have to be positive though. I got back in six months last time so I'd like to do that again but I don't want to rush it and make things worse.' Soft Sombrero Moment September 2001
Diegos: 'Compared to the members of the Four Diegos Monday night 'C' grade indoor soccer team, you are what's commonly known as a 'spring chicken' in football terms. We reckon that you can easily recover from this latest setback and kick on to play a couple more years of good football. But to everyone else you are in your 30's. How do you see your future? Clarkson: 'Well luckily I had just signed a two year contract three days before hurting the knee. So I've got 12 months to get it right. I'd hate to finish on this note though. I think I've got another couple of years left in me and I feel really good. I was thinking the other day that it seems that during every season I've had with South, I manage to miss ten weeks. The season when I didn't get injured which was last season, I missed the same amount of time because I didn't get picked, so it looks as though I can't win.' Soft Sombrero Moment September 2001
Diegos: 'Knowing the boys down at South they would be keen as mustard to keep you busy whilst you're not playing. What's coach Eddie Krncevic got you doing? Is it polishing the trophy cabinet? Entertaining the ladies committee? Walking Eddie's dog 'Fifi'? Clarkson: 'Well the first thing Eddie asked was 'Can I make a good Café Latté?' No I'm just doing some bits and pieces. I'm sort of doing a managerial role within the team liaising between the office staff, coaches and players. This is something I do enjoy. I also do a bit of coaching as well which allows me to travel away with the team. This is really important to me because once you're injured it's a pretty lonely trek back so if I can still be involved with the team, at least I can still feel part of it. All the same I've got to confess that it's still bloody hard sitting on the bench and having no control on what goes on the field.' Soft Sombrero Moment September 2001
Diegos: 'A couple of weeks ago the team traveled to New Zealand to play the Mickey Peterson coached Football Kingz in the much-vaunted NSL grudge match of the century. What was it like on the touchline? Were there dirty looks exchanged? Did you threaten Mickey P with your crutches? Was there any 'Na, Na, NaNa, Na' Con Boutsiannis type taunts? Clarkson: 'No there wasn't anything like that. People do what they've got to do. It was funny watching them do the warm up though. I thought at the time 'Gees that's exactly what we did last year'. No we had no hard feelings towards any of the guys. Mind you it would've still been nice to beat them.' Soft Sombrero Moment September 2001 |