South Australian midfielder Jane Claxton overcomes horrific hamstring injury to return to Hockeyroos duty
SOUTH Australian midfielder Jane Claxton returns to Hockeyroos duty after horrific hamstring injury with 150th Australian cap.
SOUTH Australian midfielder Jane Claxton is packing her hockey sticks again — and with her passport after restoring her place in the Hockeyroos squad by overcoming a horrific hamstring injury.
Claxton, 25, on Thursday will leave with the new-look 18-woman Hockeyroos squad for the four-nation Ibaraki tournament in Japan. And she will return to Australia with her 150th cap achieved on tour — and with greater appreciation of her new chance to play on the international stage.
Claxton learned some big lessons — both physical and emotional — from the hamstring injury that put her on the sidelines for 15 weeks and cost her a place in the Hockeyroos squad at the recent World Cup in London in July-August.
“Physically, it has been a big learning curve,” said Claxton, “I’ve learned I need to take better care of my body — that recovery with the ice baths and all the other one percenters is so important.”
This lesson comes from Claxton’s incredible story in club hockey in Perth in the lead-up to the World Cup that tore 50 per cent of a hamstring off the bone.
“I went into the game sore, but my competitive nature had me want to play without giving that any thought,” Claxton said. “Late in the first half I tore the hamstring … and I kept playing.
“I thought it would be fine … and the next morning I could not walk.”
Claxton notes her journey in the Hockeyroos squad — that began in 2013 — has turned “full circle”.
“I played in my first World Cup (in 2014 in The Netherlands) when someone missed the squad with injury,” Claxton said.
Emotionally, Claxton used her 15 weeks out of the Hockeyroos program to advance her university studies, home renovations and her private life.
“The huge positive in stepping away from the game was the emotional release,” Claxton said.
Claxton is currently has 146 international caps to her record. Reaching the 150-milestone will give Claxton a sense of belonging with the Hockeyroos she has not known before.
“I’ve always felt I was needing to make the next Hockeyroos team,” Claxton said. “The milestone is pretty amazing, more so when not many get to achieve 150 internationals.”
The third-ranked Hockeyroos will play South Korea (10th), the US (12th) and Japan (14th) from September 12-16 September at the Ritsumeikan University Osaka Ibaraki Campus. The series will serve the Hockeyroos as a test to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au
