Young Saint Hunter Clark reveals the full extent of damage from bump which sent AFL into spin
Hunter Clark spent weeks recovering from a collision which sent David Mackay straight to the tribunal — and he has a blunt message about the future of the bump in footy.
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Hunter Clark couldn’t wait to get stuck into a steak.
After a diet of smoothies, soups and other blended delights, the young Saint didn’t realise how much he missed the act of chewing until he couldn’t do it.
Eating through a straw became the norm for Clark after his jaw was shattered in a sickening collision that put the entire AFL on edge in June.
But as the football world debated the future of the bump — the result of Adelaide veteran David Mackay’s high-speed hit on Clark — the young Saint was left to deal with a face full of metal and a mushed-up menu.
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“I was on a liquid diet for the first two or three weeks, so just smoothies, soup,” Clark said.
“I would have meals but mum would have to blend it up so that I could just slurp it. It was pretty gross.
“That was probably the most trying thing. You don’t realise just eating how grateful you are to do it.
“After maybe four or five weeks I could start to chew but chewed very slowly. I probably couldn’t eat a steak for two or three months.
“I was on pure liquids for two or three weeks then slowly incorporated chewing food but it was pretty grim.”
Clark suffered three fractures, nerve damage and dental damage in the Round 13 collision, which sidelined him for the next seven weeks.
He had multiple screws inserted in the front and side of his jaw and — four months after the horrific injury — Clark still experiences some numbness and sensitivity.
“I had my wisdom teeth and some screws out two weeks ago and I still have a few screws in my mouth but they are going to keep them in for a while,” Clark said.
“Hopefully there won‘t be any more surgeries around the face for a while.
“It’s still fairly numb. I can’t feel it through my chin and the bottom part of my mouth and jaw.
“I’m starting to get the feeling back there but parts of it are still numb.
“I snapped clean through the front (of the jaw) and through the sides. At the front where my front bottom teeth are there is a bit of nerve damage but hopefully they (the teeth) don’t die.
“I think I have got four screws at the front still and I had four at the side, or like a plate with four screws through it. It was a pretty long process but it’s all healing now which is good.”
The hit
As the ball flew over the top of Clark’s head midway through the second quarter at Cazaly’s Stadium in Cairns, Clark immediately turned and gave chase.
He charged towards the ball, eyes fixed on the Sherrin.
Clark could sense the Adelaide players around him and was expecting a contested play. In a split second, the 22-year-old was reeling on the ground after the bone-jarring hit.
“I remember the ball was kicked to me and it went over my head and I just turned and I saw the ball there,” Clark said.
“I knew there were Adelaide players around me but I didn’t really take too much note of them, I just knew I was going to be contested.
“Then I remember just going to pick the ball up and just got cleaned up and I don’t really remember too much of the pain … it was a pretty big hit but I was in a bit of shock.
“Then I was off the ground, I was on pain killers straight away.
“So for the first few days it wasn’t actually that sore because I was on painkillers. I remember just running my tongue over my front teeth and the left side of my jaw was maybe half a centimetre lower than my right side.
“I could kind of tell there was something wrong. I didn’t initially think I could break my jaw because it was not too painful but I got the scans on Sunday morning and there was a clean break.”
As big as the collision was, the debate surrounding the hit was huge. It became one of the major talking points of the year as the future of the bump in the game was put on the line.
In a rare move, Mackay was referred directly to the AFL Tribunal by the Match Review Officer for what was one of the most anticipated cases the league has seen in years.
Mackay, who was ultimately cleared by the Tribunal, reached out to Clark in the days after the incident.
“Dave sent me a text the following day or two days later just checking in on me and I have got no doubt he was going for the footy,” Clark said.
“He just asked how I was going. He said he felt for me. He told me his intentions were on the footy and I thought watching on the tape it was pretty clear he was going for the footy.
“He was just checking in and making sure I was all right and that was very nice of him.
“It was just one of those incidents where two players were going for the footy and I came off second best.”
Ultimately, Clark felt he was “just unlucky” and viewed the bump as a part of the game.
“I definitely think there is a place for it,” Clark said.
“Footy is a contact sport and you go into the game knowing you can get injured. It’s a 360 game and you can get hit from anywhere.
“If you take those little things out of the game it would really change the way the game has been forever.
“It doesn’t happen all that often that someone breaks their jaw in that situation so I think it is just unlucky.
“I don’t think you can eradicate it from the game, it is just the way footy has been played forever and probably will be.
“That’s just the way footy goes sometimes. Someone comes off second best.”
Silver lining
Clark returned to the field for St Kilda’s Round 20 clash against Carlton after seven weeks but he suffered a head knock in his return game and didn’t play for the rest of the year.
But Clark said his horror year would serve as more fuel for the pre-season as he prepares for his fifth campaign with the Saints.
“I think I started the year well and when I got injured I probably had a quiet couple of weeks so that was pretty annoying to go out injured off the back of maybe one or two poorer games,” Clark said.
“It was a bit disjointed and quite an annoying way to finish the year but it has definitely given me good motivation for this off-season and pre-season for what I want to do next year.
“It could potentially be a blessing but at the time it was very hard to not play after that injury.”
But don’t expect the collision to have any lingering impact on Clark’s ferocity at the ball.
He said he would continue to attack the ball as only he knows how.
“It definitely hasn’t changed or won’t change my approach,” Clark said.
“Once I broke my jaw and I was back training, I almost forgot that I’d had a broken jaw.
“I guess in that circumstance that’s good that it’s not on my mind or anything.”
After extending his contract for another two years at the start of the season, Clark is intent on building his fitness base in the hope of more midfield minutes and to make a greater impact in his role at halfback.
“I have worked on my fitness a lot this off-season and I am going to keep doing that to allow myself to go into the midfield more,” said Clark, who has now played 60 games for St Kilda.
“But we have got good depth there and with everyone healthy it will get pretty crowded. If I am on the halfback flank I don’t really have too many worries with that.
“I think I have just got to get fitter and grow my body more to allow me to play through the midfield and play for longer chunks through there, I think that will help the team.
“But when I am playing halfback the same principle applies, I guess, I have just got to get fitter to impact for longer.”
“I have been training a fair bit with Steeley (Jack Steele) this off-season and he has been really good for me. He is kind of the player I want to aspire to be.”
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Driving force
If the second half of the season was not challenging enough, Clark said it had been tough to swallow missing out on the finals after surging to a semi-final last year – the Saints’ first finals appearance since 2011.
Clark has already seen this year’s result pushing players this off-season and he said it was up to the club’s young generation to drive it forward.
“We had some pretty high expectations of ourselves coming into the season,” Clark said.
“We had a good year the year before but we only won one final and we didn’t make finals until the last week so it’s not like we were on top of the world or anything.
“It was a disappointing year but everyone has been training well … everyone is pretty committed to taking the club to a better position next year and for the future beyond that.
“We have got a pretty young group still, a lot of players around 22 to 26 …. I am excited and it’s up to us younger boys to drive the club and take it to where it needs to get.
“So I am looking forward to doing that this year and I can’t wait.
PARTNERSHIP EXTENSION
St Kilda is celebrating the renewal of its partnership with Pepper Money with the launch of a community grant program for local sporting groups.
After extending their partnership for the next two years, the Saints and Pepper Money have launched the Real Life Fund with $30,000 in grants available for local sporting and recreation groups.
Clubs and groups can apply for grants of up to $5000 for programs or projects in 2022.
Applications can be made until December 31. Visit saints.com.au/reallifefund
Originally published as Young Saint Hunter Clark reveals the full extent of damage from bump which sent AFL into spin
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