Just watched the interview on the footy show.. Obviously he is getting his head right at the moment.. But I think on what i saw, he'll play AFL again. I could see him being rookied somewhere if not the dees, im sure Fremantle would be tempted given Pavs neatly done..

Anyone else see the interview?

Yeah I just can't see him coming back. Overcoming illness and a body that has seemingly packed up on him.

Get happy Mitch!

  On 05/06/2014 at 11:17, Pipefitter said:

Yeah I just can't see him coming back. Overcoming illness and a body that has seemingly packed up on him.

Get happy Mitch!

I see your point.. But maybe a rest could do his body the world of good!

He's a star human.

I hope firstly and most importantly that he gets himself right. But it certainty sounds like a comeback hasn't been ruled out.

Surely if he enters the PSD & nominates us as his preferred club, no other club would be heartless enough to get in the way.

Cant see him playing afl again he was very open and honest great character that may well find a new roll as an ambassador for mental health once his head space is right one day but afl is all but past him I think

Good to hear he's over the worst of it.

Pretty brave for opening up and being so honest, was a very candid interview.

To summarise a few things he said

Said he had a mini melt down after training, felt light headed and didnt feel good. Never felt like that before

He mentioned some dark days

Felt guilty accepting pay cheques from the club when he wasnt performing for it

Did his hammy 3 times over summer in the same spot then did his calf

Glad he went to the doctor otherwise he would have wrecked a lot of relationships with teammates, family and partner

Relieved he made the decision to quit

Missed his teammates and slightly misses the club

A long way to go. He is feeling good at the moment

Hasnt ruled out a comeback down the track

Thanked the footy club for there support

Bernie was asked if he noticed anything wrong with Mitch over summer and Bernie said he didnt really notice and Mitch kept a lot of it to himself.

Good interview, Clark spoken very well.

So the story:

- 3 hamstring and a calf had him feeling incredibly down in the dumps and sounds like he had some kind of panic attack after training just realising how far off it he was.

- Mentioned he wasn't sleeping but besides that didn't want to go in to depths about symptoms of the depression (fair enough too)

- Went to get some help and examined his feelings and the underlying thoughts were that if he wasn't going to give 110% and he felt like he couldn't then he was better off retiring

- Feeling guilty taking a pay cheque was obviously part of that

- Explained it's his nature to keep problems to himself and not communicate his feelings with friends and family

At the end he mentioned he loves footy and misses the boys, has been watching a bit of local footy and doing a bit of training after letting himself go a bit. Didn't rule out an AFL comeback

I'm not getting my hopes up as he'd have to fully commit to training and be in the mental state to be an elite athlete again. Plus he'd need some luck with his body that he's never had before.

But he's well that's the main thing so you never know.

  On 05/06/2014 at 11:19, Laces Out said:

I see your point.. But maybe a rest could do his body the world of good!

He said he was 26, I thought he was older. If he was worried about the pay check could not MFC broker a deal where we pay him a minimum retainer for even the next two years until he gets his mind and body in the right place. I know it would be a non playing member of the list but it would be worth the investment I think.

Such a loss it really gets me but that said you could tell in the interview he has been in a bad place and still has some work to do!

great to see him getting himself better.

really hope he can comeback.

to us.

Firstly, ultimate respect levels, takes a real man to admit they need help and seek it, and to feel guilt about the pay, I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't have said a thing.

certainly didn't rule out a return, basically exactly what GNF said he would do, i'm sure the club is putting absolutely no pressure on him but the dream of clark, Dawes and Hogan is still alive... just

I just hope he can get himself to a good place. Football is a great thing that means a lot to many of us, but it's just a game. Whatever Mitch is/was going through wasn't a game.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-06-05/clark-leaves-door-ajar

reminds me a bit of Roosy last year

I took a couple of things from that interview.

Firstly, he said he still loves the game. That is a big one to me. It says that he would love to play again if he can get his body and mind right.

Secondly, it sounded very much to me that he hinted a couple of times that at his worst he was thinking in terms of self-harm. I don't think any of us realised that he was in quite that dark a place.

  On 05/06/2014 at 11:53, RalphiusMaximus said:

I took a couple of things from that interview.

Firstly, he said he still loves the game. That is a big one to me. It says that he would love to play again if he can get his body and mind right.

Secondly, it sounded very much to me that he hinted a couple of times that at his worst he was thinking in terms of self-harm. I don't think any of us realised that he was in quite that dark a place.

Yes I picked that up to. Didn't realise it had got to that.

  On 05/06/2014 at 09:57, Grand New Flag said:

Mitch has left the door open with a decision to be made in Nov/Dec. I have not seen the interview. I may end up with egg on my face. I am just saying what I am told from my friends inside the club. I hope to get more info on this and other issues on Monday.

As far as the club is concerned, Nov/Dec is too late for next season.

As far as Mitch is concerned, and this should go for all of us, the club doesn't matter in this case.

If that's how long he needs, then too bad for the club, it probably won't work.

Mitch's health is paramount.

I reckon he'll be back. Clearly he is already contemplating it on some level.

  On 05/06/2014 at 12:03, Machsy said:

As far as the club is concerned, Nov/Dec is too late for next season.

As far as Mitch is concerned, and this should go for all of us, the club doesn't matter in this case.

If that's how long he needs, then too bad for the club, it probably won't work.

Mitch's health is paramount.

Yeah the AFL list rules don't really work in someones favour. He can't just rock up and start training and sort the contracts and add him to the list when it suits like in other sports like soccer and NFL.

Maybe he could go to Casey and do some preseason with them.

If his body holds up and he enjoys footy it makes sense he plays at some level. He could make a decent amount sitting in the goal square in local footy and just enjoy the game and then start training. In fact that might be the most logical thing, get himself right this year, play local footy next year for half a season, if it works then halfway through the year commit to a comeback at age 27 and ready to play in 2016.

love the idea george.

a year in casey, teaching the kids and helping them and then, boom! back to being a dee in 2015.

  On 04/06/2014 at 08:18, Grimes is Great said:

No chance of Clark playing next yr unfortunately. This is made clear in the interview you will see tomorrow night on the footy show.

must have missed it, couldn't have been very clear

  On 05/06/2014 at 11:25, Viscount Hood said:

He said he was 26, I thought he was older. If he was worried about the pay check could not MFC broker a deal where we pay him a minimum retainer for even the next two years until he gets his mind and body in the right place. I know it would be a non playing member of the list but it would be worth the investment I think.

Such a loss it really gets me but that said you could tell in the interview he has been in a bad place and still has some work to do!

Wowzers...where to start.

  On 05/06/2014 at 11:59, Viscount Hood said:

Yes I picked that up to. Didn't realise it had got to that.

that's not surprising with depression viscount

  On 04/06/2014 at 08:24, dees189227 said:

Damo was on mmm today and he didnt even realise how bad Clark got with his depression. Im pretty sure he said Clark didnt officially rule out a return but it wont happen anytime soon. Anyway will be interesting to see what he says and I hope he is doing really well.

Watching Clark last night, he is very vulnerable still, atmo.

I'd say its highly Unlikely he will be able to make it back to AFL. the pressure will be too much IMO.

  On 04/06/2014 at 13:57, Chook said:

It's pretty easy when you mostly post tripe. I should know.

  On 04/06/2014 at 22:15, Ethan Tremblay said:

Am also guilty....

we all are,whether we post light hearted garb', or the serious footy tripe some here think makes them gods of footy.

all welcome to the Human, race.