North Melbourne’s Charlie Comben opens up on losing his mother Vivien and his years of injury pain
North Melbourne finally got a win on the board last week, and not many celebrated harder than Charlie Comben on the siren. JAY CLARK chats to a man who wears his heart on his sleeve.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Charlie Comben arrived home last weekend to a bunch of balloons and cupcakes from his neighbours.
They support Carlton, but in the three years since the young Fato family has lived next door to Comben, they have adored him, his bubbly personality and infectious humour from over the fence.
To North Melbourne, he’s been the horribly unlucky, but fast-developing big man who has helped fill a key void in the back half in the youngest team in the competition this season.
CHARLIE COMBEN
— TheKing (@theindextracker) April 10, 2024
Comeback game after breaking his leg early last year.
No.1 ranked player on the ground
25 disposals
13 intercept possessions
6 intercept marks
Everyone’s favourite! #AFLLionsNorthpic.twitter.com/Bw2J765piC
But there is also a side to the 199cm backman from Sale, who tragically lost his mum as a 19-year-old and has broken 23 bones in his body, that not only makes him one of the most popular people on his street, but also a heartbeat of his footy team.
In some of the darkest days at North Melbourne this year, it has been the ever-smiling key defender who has been the one to find the light, generate some humour, and lift the spirits of the team when it has been flat on its back this year.
And when he crosses the white line on the weekend, the man who hadn’t spent a minute of his life in the backline before this year and came off a severe ankle injury, is as competitive as they come.
So when they finally got the four points for the first time of the season last weekend, guess who was plonked next to matchwinner Jy Simpkin slapping his thigh, ruffling his hair and giving him a big hug in the rooms in the post-match team meeting?
It was the big fella from Sale. Generating the joy and bringing the love once again.
“There were a few clips of me celebrating pretty hard after the siren, but I’m a pretty open person like that. I wear my heart on my sleeve and I just felt complete elation after the siren went,” Comben said.
“I was ecstatic with the win, and just to see some of the younger boys like Jackson Archer, George Wardlaw and Toby Pink get their first win after so much footy, I was just so happy to see them get that enjoyment.
“You couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces, and that was hours after the game.
“To get a win like that really does solidify the belief. Especially on the road and to come from behind.
“It shows we are on the right track.”
It has been tough going for the Roos this year, as they doggedly pursue the development path knowing each week will bring a collection of ups and downs, and not necessarily always in that order.
Last Saturday’s nailbiting win over the Eagles was Comben’s third from 18 AFL matches.
And against reigning premier Collingwood at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, the challenge is a steep one.
But Comben has come as far as any young player in the game over the past three months considering his extraordinary injury history and personal loss.
As a junior, Comben snapped his wrist, shattered his collarbone, cracked his cheekbone, broke his leg and chipped his knee.
Then, after he was drafted with pick 31 in 2019, there was a broken back (in 2020), the shattered collarbone (2021), and last year in perhaps the most cruel and painful blow, he snapped his leg and his ankle.
The leg injury was so gruesome broadcasters chose not to replay it as he screamed in agony cradling his dangling lower leg.
It was Round 7 when his year was over. Again. The disappointment crushed him.
Comben has been crazy brave in the air over the journey, and that courage has cost him.
“I probably have thrown myself at contests that I have no right to be in, and it has resulted in me hurting myself at different points,” he said.
“But you have got to be competitive, you have got to be tough and be able to hit body – it’s the modern game.
“But they have all been impact injuries, so in a way, I have just been really unlucky. It has frustrated me that I have been pigeonholed as injury-prone.
“Last year I finally felt like I began to hit my straps and clunk some marks, and play a better brand.
“So to get hurt again at that time — it was really disappointing.
“The next few days were shocking, I was in a big splint, I had to sleep on the couch because I couldn’t get up the stairs to my bedroom, and I was really, really sore.
“It was really depressing, I really struggled, and I thought at that point this could be the end of my career.
“But I had great support around me.”
He has undergone testing on his bone density which has come up all clear. The bad breaks, the doctors say, have all been just incredibly bad luck.
Subsequent soreness and tendon complications have seen Comben undertake some specialist ballet-style training to strengthen his leg, and consult with one of the country’s top pain researchers to deal with the ongoing after-effects which has tested his patience.
He is the new calf-raise king at North.
But the foot flexion exercises are incredibly tedious, and the resilience he has shown through it all, completing twice-weekly sessions on the reformer has won the admiration of the entire club.
He still deals with some soreness.
But it pales in comparison to the pain of missing his mum. Vivien Carrington, who was a schoolteacher in Sale, was her son’s biggest supporter.
It was late in 2020 that she passed away without warning one night in her sleep because of a heart problem.
“When we found out it was the hardest night of my life,” Comben said.
“I feel like the sad part of it is now she is not around to enjoy the successes of where I am, and I feel a certain bit of guilt that I am not able to enjoy it with her.
“I often think now after I achieve something personally I would just love to send her a text message, and at least share it with her.
“As a teenager growing up, you are probably not the best version of yourself. You are still learning how to behave and act and treat other people.
“She was a single mum, she raised me and my brother from when I was 11 pretty much by herself, and I love my dad too, but he was off working to provide financial support for us.
“Mum was at the coal face with us.
“I would love a bit more time with mum to treat her really well and pay her back for the time she put into us. I want to pay her back for the opportunity she created for us.
“She is why I have kept going. She was with me through all of my injuries and she saw how frustrated I got.
“I’m just so appreciative of what she taught us.”
Vivien would be looking down on her son, as proud as punch of his breakthrough this year in 2024.
For the inner-strength he has shown. And the way he lifts and laughs with others.
But the best times are yet to come. And he loves doing his thing on the field for the Kangas, inspired as always, by his No.1.
His mum.
“It has been a tough year but for me to be able to go out there and live my dream – that opportunity is really important for me,” he said.
“Our team and footy club has been through so much turmoil over the past five years. So much instability and hard times.
“When we do turn the corner and we do start winning games, it is going to be so much more enjoyable knowing what we’ve been through.
“It gives you a great perspective on how great winning games of footy is for everyone involved. I really look forward to that.”
Breakout Bulldog? Young gun steps up to fill Treloar void
Just days after Adam Treloar’s injury, a young gun at the Dogs has staked his claim for a spot in their midfield, as Luke Beveridge waits on scans that could cause another selection headache.
‘Worried I’d never return to normal’: My battle with concussion
Just days after her third concussion, award-winning journalist Eliza Reilly fainted in front of Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir. Six months on, she tells her life-changing, emotional battle with her brain.