Tiger King regains his bite
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen
11:51 AM Tue 09 December, 2008
IT WOULD be fair to say that Jake King had an up-and-down year in 2008.
A great start faded into injury problems with all the attendant frustrations.
“Yeah, it wasn’t too flash, and it all came from my back,” he told richmondfc.com.au.
“I did my hamstring three times, and they were all back-related.
“Then when I tried to come back I ended up doing my ankle, I tore all the ligaments and the muscles.
“I just had a shocking second half of the year.”
However, that is all behind the 24-year-old as he prepares for 2009 with his injuries under control.
“They’re all good now, no dramas at all. It just means I’ve got extra work to do to look after myself,” King said.
“They give me the program, and I’ll stick by whatever they say, but then I also have to do all this body maintenance stuff to make sure everything holds up, so that makes it a bit more work.
“Physio, massage, stretching, pilates, ice baths – all that. It just doesn’t stop.”
Just as the physical front provided highs and lows, so did King’s form last season.
“I’m probably my harshest critic – there were a lot of things I didn’t like,” King said.
“There were a few good things that came out of it, but a lot of it I didn’t like.
“There’s a lot that I still need to work on, and you get really frustrated because of the second half of the year, when I didn’t get the chance to work on things.
“Towards the end of the year is where you want to actually polish things off, and my season was over.”
But that disappointment has driven King to focus on what he wants to achieve during the pre-season.
“I want my skills to improve enormously, my engine to become a lot bigger [so] I can push through physically and mentally, but I’d still like it to make it that little bit easier for me,” he said.
“And keeping my mouth shut – yeah, there’s plenty there to work on.”
King also wants to take his defensive skills to a higher level and has concrete targets to achieve in the 2009 season proper.
"I want to play all the games, and I want to make an impact on the competition and in the club,” King said.
“I want to be someone that the boys can rely on week to week – no flashy stuff, just does the job.
“Just keep having a crack.”
http://www.afl.com.au/AFL2008/News/Article/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=70718
