King ready to roar after his 'worst year'By Jennifer Witham
afl.com.au
3:43pm AEDT Sunday, December 16, 2012THIS YEAR, Jake King became very well acquainted with his couch.
More often than not, the Richmond forward was confined to it the day after the Tigers played, nursing at least one part of his body.
The 28-year-old played 12 games, nine of them on Saturday, so his couch and comfy clothes received regular attention.
The list of injuries seemed endless for the livewire goal-kicker. Knee, wrist, thumb, cheekbone, knee again, foot, adductor. And they were just the actual injuries – not the regular bumps and bruises footballers are subjected to.
"It was the worst year I've had," King told AFL.com.au.
"Sunday mornings pretty much involved moccasins, tracksuit pants and just lying on the couch. It was horrible."
The fact King played 12 matches is a testament to his toughness, given his problems started in the Tigers' second game for the season and accumulated as the season progressed.
First was the posterior cruciate ligament he injured in round two against Collingwood. It needed surgery, as it was notably unstable, but the decision was made to strap it and see how it would go.
"We had some scans on it and the 'docs' pretty much said if we pull the pin now and get the operation done, you'll be right at the end of the season," King said.
"Otherwise we can just see what happens and try and strengthen up the quad.
"We did, and that got it down to a minimal amount of movement, but it was still pretty bad so the only option left was to tape it up."
He missed three games and returned, strapped and bandaged, to play against Port Adelaide in round six.
It was this game he broke a bone in his wrist in. But, in King fashion, he lined up again the following week against the Sydney Swans.
Lightning struck again, and he broke his left thumb and snapped some ligaments. It was the second injury he'd pick up that would require surgery at the end of the season.
In round 12 against Greater Western Sydney, King added a fractured cheekbone to his list of ailments.
He had a week off courtesy of the bye, and then fronted up to play Adelaide in round 14 at AAMI Stadium.
At this stage, King was playing with his left knee, left thumb and right wrist encased in strapping tape, and with what was likely a pretty sore face.
To make matters worse, it was this contest in which he picked up the second injury to his left knee – a medial ligament strain, which was initially forecast to cost him six to eight weeks.
He missed four. He came back against Carlton in round 18, and got through the next three rounds without adding to his battery of injuries.
Then in round 21 against Fremantle, he fractured a bone in his toe about 10 minutes into the second quarter. He finished the game, but it was season over, and the operations (note the plural reference) began two days later.
"The first operation was on my foot where I had pins put in. They did the thumb at the same time," King said.
"I had my foot in a moon boot, my hand in plaster, and then two weeks later they did the operation on the knee, so my knee was in a brace. Then the groin operation was done at the same time.
"The only thing that was not touched was my right hand and I had to try and get around and hobble with crutches, which was nearly impossible.
"It was a horrible six weeks."
King ended up having a second operation on his foot in October, to remove the pins, while the bone that was broken after the injury failed to mend.
He had to cancel his planned holiday to Bali, and instead spent time on his mate's houseboat in Mildura after the club gave him an extra week off to help his body heal.
Since then, it's been all positive. The medical staff are keeping a close eye on his knee and hamstring (where tendon was harvested to fix the PCL), and he's essentially dipped in ice after each training session.
But things are ahead of where they're supposed to be.
"I ran on Wednesday and I've been running on the AlterG [anti-gravity] treadmill, and I got out of that and got to run on the track. It's about a month ahead of schedule," he said.
"I'm hoping to play a few of the NAB Cup games and get my fitness up and get ready for round one. That's providing everything goes well and there's no setbacks but I should get a couple of games there."
King is out of contract at the end of next season and is comfortable with the idea negotiations will likely wait until his body proves it is over its year from hell.
Still, after six years of playing for the Tigers, the former rookie says he can't remember a time where there's been more excitement about the club.
The recent recruiting spree secured the services of six experienced AFL players – plus five talented 18-year-olds – and Trent Cotchin has stepped in as captain.
"It's actually really exciting. Drafting those older mature boys we got, when they rocked up to the club it gave the boys a boost because it added a lot of depth," King said.
"It also puts a lot of pressure on the guys up above. When you've got the guys below putting pressure on, the guys above seem to perform a lot better.
"Then the team will perform a lot better, which leads to winning more games.
"It's a good feeling amongst the boys at the moment and everyone is quite enjoying the pre-season for a change."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2012-12-16/king
