The Club Player Interviews CLANCY RUDEFORTH
CLANCY RUDEFORTH
Posted on 15/03/2011
Captain Courageous - Every club needs their captain to lead by example and at tigerland captain Clancy Rudeforth does just that. He is a terrific role model for the younger players at the club and has now been an outstanding league player for 10 years. We caught up with him for a quick chat.
You came off the ground during the practice match against Perth everything ok?
Yes all ok just had a cork so just a precautionary measure to come off early, I’ll play this week.
Speaking of injuries you had a serious injury late last season with a broken jaw do you actually remember the incident?
Yeah I remember everything I didn’t actually get knocked out. I remember thinking at the time I had probably broken my jaw I’ve actually broken it before so I didn’t think too far ahead at that stage. After the game I said to myself I would do all I could to play in the grand final so I went away and spoke to the people I needed to like the surgeon, Macca, my Dad. We ended up coming to the decision the Wednesday before the Grand Final that it wasn’t best for the team for me to play.
That must have been very disappointing?
Yeah it was, not as disappointing as the result though!
Talk us through the recovery process, what was involved?
With the jaw there’s not too much you can do it’s like any other broken bone the only thing you can do is give it time. I did look into protective head gear for the game if I was going to play, I actually got a custom made guard made but there was still too much risk. In terms of actually recovery they put the plates in there and then it’s a matter of time before I can start to eat properly. I was ready to go from day one of the pre-season.
So are there any side effects from the broken jaw that remain today?
Not really, my jaw doesn’t quite line up so there’s a little bit of unevenness but it’s only a matter of half a millimetre so you would have to say there’s almost 100% full recovery.
Would that be the worst injury you’ve had?
It’s obviously the worst timing for an injury but I’d rather have a broken jaw than do a knee or a shoulder and possibly be out for the entire season and those types of injuries can stay with you for the rest of your life. With a broken bone it heals and you don’t notice the difference after a while. Probably Osteitis Pubis was the worst injury as a young guy because you don’t really know when you’re going to get over it.
Let’s talk about season 2011 how’s the team shaping up?
Yeah I think we should be as strong if not a little bit stronger than last year and a lot better for going through the experience of a final series and such a disappointing grand final loss. It can only make you stronger individually and as a team. We’ve had a great pre-season where we’ve really got to know the new faces around the place; we had a great camp down south with the SAS boys so yeah overall it’s looking good.
Are you impressed with any new players in particular?
It’s easy in pre-season to say certain blokes are standing out but it’s really once the season starts that players that may not have been winning the running races put their hand up so probably a little bit early to single blokes out. As a whole the young blokes that have come through I’ve been really impressed with, the way they’ve gone about it, they’ve kept their heads down trained hard and they couldn’t have done any more to win the respect of the rest of the playing group.
Do you set your own personal goals or is it more about setting team goals only?
It’s definitely more team orientated. Personally I still want to win my place in the side and play the best I can so you’ve got to have personal goals as well. Mine mostly revolve around leadership and making sure the group is going as well they can.
How long have you been with the club now?
In the senior group this is my 10th year I started in 2001 but with the club I came through the juniors from 1996 so yeah it’s been a while now.
Realistically how much longer do you think you can keep going?
I keep very fit and I haven’t had the type of injuries that tend to cut careers short so physically I’m pretty confident I could go for a number of years yet. It’s really a year by year prospect for me so I sit down after every year and make sure I’m staying for the right reasons and if I’m enjoying my footy I’ll keep going.
And finally what do you do off the field?
I’m an Oil and Gas Lawyer with Freehills in town so that keeps me very busy.
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