Retired Melbourne star Mitch Clark breaks his silence revealing he felt for his personal safety

FORMER Melbourne star Mitch Clark has broken his silence on his decision to quit the game, admitting he feared for his personal safety.

Melbourne footy star Mitch Clark is taking his girlfriend Samantha to see the re-design hub for the new Flinders St station. A budding photographer he wants to take pics there of his girlfriend Samantha Blades

FORMER Melbourne forward Mitch Clark has broken his silence on his decision to quit the game, admitting he feared for his safety in his darkest moments.

Clark, who retired from the game in April in a bid to overcome depression, said a spate of injuries and the guilt he felt from being on a big money contract contributed to a downward spiral he had to escape.

“Obviously I wasn’t sleeping too well and it got to a point where my personal safety was at stake. It’s something I don’t really want to talk about or go into too deep, but it was definitely a moment there where something had to change,” Clark told The Footy Show.

“It got to a fork in the road where I could keep going the way I’m going and who knows what’s going to happen? It got pretty dark there. I took a different road and made the decision to get myself better and work with my doctor and my partner and my family and people that are close to me.”

Mitch Clark soon after being traded to Melbourne.

Clark said his mental health battle remained a “constant thing”.

“It’s sort of up and down. I have good days and bad,” he said.

“At the moment I’m having probably more good days than bad, which is good and I feel like I’m sort of over the hump and getting better. It’s a short way through a long process, but I’ll take the positives.”

Clark said he knew he had to walk away from the game when he suffered a “breakdown” after a training session several months ago.

Clark is an avid photographer. Picture: Norm Oorloff

“I felt quite ill to be honest. I’d never felt that way before and that was probably the moment where I realised I had to stand up and be a man and go and talk to my doctor and sort it out,” he said.

“I did my hammy three times in the pre-season straight after Christmas back-to-back in the same spot. Then I did the calf straight after that. It just got too much for me and it got to the point where I didn’t see myself getting back to be able to play footy and if I wasn’t going to do that and my heart is not 100 per cent in it, I’m not going to keep doing it.

“Part of me leaving was also that I was going in there and getting a pay cheque every day. It’s been well documented that I was getting paid quite well at Melbourne and I felt quite guilty. It was just at a point where (I thought) ‘I have to get out of here’ and change something and that’s what I’ve done.

Mitch Clark celebrates a goal against the Eagles.

“I would have ruined a lot of relationships with close friends and family and teammates if I didn’t go and get help. I wasn’t a very nice person to be around. The way that I am, I bottle a lot of things up and keep things quite close to my chest and I realised that’s not good for anyone”.

Clark was granted indefinite leave from the club in March before walking away from the game a month later at just 26.

“I suppose the first few weeks I was probably a bit numb and unsure of the decision, but the dust has settled a little bit and I’m very happy with the decision I’ve made,” he said.

“Obviously I miss the boys and I miss the Melbourne footy club a little bit, but part of me getting better was stepping away from that and I feel as though I’m getting better.”

Mitch Clarke gets helped off the MCG with an injury.

Image from Mitch Clark’s Instagram page, with the message: “Thankyou to everyone for your support throughout my career. I have so many great memories. Looking forward to whatever is next. Photo by the great man @olisansom "

Originally published as Retired Melbourne star Mitch Clark breaks his silence revealing he felt for his personal safety