No guarantees for Matthew Broadbent but he’s just happy to be running again

Matthew Broadbent has emerged from the toughest 12 months of his career with no lingering doubts in his body but no guarantees either that his old spot will be waiting for him in Round 1.

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Matthew Broadbent has emerged from the toughest 12 months of his career with no lingering doubts in his body but no guarantees either that his old spot will be waiting for him in Round 1.

But Broadbent doesn’t want any promises, he wants the challenge of earning back his spot as a general in defence and that’s why of all the players punishing themselves in Noosa’s stifling heat this week, Broadbent is doing it with the biggest smile on his face.

Having not played since Round 19, 2017, been through two lots of ankle surgery and told to rest for another three months with a stress fracture in his toe, the 28-year-old is simply excited to be out there again.

“There’s certainly been tough periods through it all and you get doubts and questions in your head, but the support I’ve had from the boys, the club and the medical staff has been amazing,” he told The Advertiser in Noosa.

“You’ve just got to keep fronting up and trying to turn it around.

“It makes you appreciate when things are going well, I’d been pretty lucky up until a couple of years ago and you take it for granted a little bit, and I can’t wait to get back out there and playing footy.”

The 28-year-old has been back running for six weeks and doing footy drills with his teammates. Picture: Sarah Reed.

Broadbent had been as reliable as he was durable before the ankle injury. He played 82 consecutive games from late 2011 to 2015, had finished as high as second in the best-and-fairest and captained the Power in a pre-season game.

But to highlight how much has changed at Alberton since he last played at AFL level, that day he stood alongside Jackson Trengove, Jack Hombsch and Jasper Pittard in defence, and a third of that entire team is now gone.

Darcy Byrne-Jones and Dan Houston have emerged as running or shut-down half-backs, Ryan Burton has arrived from Hawthorn and Dougal Howard is now a lock in defence alongside Tom Jonas and to a lesser degree Tom Clurey, so Broadbent knows he’ll have to fight for his spot which might see him pushed towards the wing.

“I’m not sure yet if the goal is JLT and it’s going to be pretty tight for spots especially down back, which is an exciting challenge and I think you need that competition to become a better club,” he said.

“Over the period out I’ve dipped my foot into a little bit of coaching and seen the game from the other side and it makes you really appreciate just being out there.”

Broadbent, who is coming into the final year of a four-year contract, was struck down multiple times in 2018.

He had two operations on his ankle then played two SANFL games with the Magpies but developed a stress fracture in his toe which ended his season in July. He didn’t need surgery but was in for a three-month recovery process.

His seemingly never-ending pre-season started in August when he could only ride a bike while his toe was allowed to heal, but he has been back running for six weeks, is pain-free and feeling good.

“Having not played for pretty much the last couple of months of the season I was raring to get back into it once the foot was good to go again,” he said.

“It’s exciting just to be back around the boys and not stuck inside on a bike.

“There were a few little hiccups, I’d think I was coming good then something else popped up, hopefully now it’s smooth sailing, it’s not going to be perfect but hopefully the trend is upwards.

“The fitness is getting there, slowly but surely, it’s obviously going to take a little while with so long off but it’s mainly about making sure the foot is all good.

“The first two or three weeks were pretty low key sessions but now I’m starting to get a bit more speed into it and get longer sessions which is important.

“I’m not too far away with marrying up with what the boys are doing in full training, and hopefully in January I can hit the ground running.”