What Clarko says
2. Jarryd RougheadToday's Summer Series countdown features the player who will wear the number 2 guernsey again in season 2012, Jarryd Roughead.
Roughy, as we're all aware suffered a serious achilles tendon injury mid-season, which curtailed the last half of his year. It was a real shame because he was playing some of the best football of his career in a more versatile role in the ruck. He'd been really impressive in that position and, at the time of his injury was very close to leading our best and fairest. We were really pleased with the football he was playing and we missed him in the last half of the year.
You'll be pleased to know, however, that his rehabilitation to date has gone well. He had a little bit of a hiccup immediately post surgery, as an infection set him back for 3-4 weeks. Outside of that, his rehabilitation has been first class.
He's now up and running, participating in nearly all of the ball work and the only thing he's not participating in is the match play. He's running at full speed, kicking the ball and getting involved in most of the drills that rest of the group are participating in. His next step is to get himself involved in match practice, some marking contests, and get himself ready for the early part of the season.
At this stage he's tracking well, with an aim to be get involved in practice matches towards the latter stages of the pre-season competition and the early part of the season. How he progresses over the next 6-8 weeks will determine whether those matches are at Hawthorn level or at Box Hill, but we've been really pleased with his progress.
Roughy's such an important part of our Club. He was drafted from the Gippsland Power and performed really well for a long period of time for our football Club as a key forward. He's a versatile player, and we're of the view that he can also make solid contributions in the ruck or as a key defender.
The great feature of his play is his ability to read the game and the ability to get his hands on the ball. He's been a dominant forward for the Club over the period because he's got great flexibility to be able to play a number of positions.
We're really looking forward to seeing Roughy back on the park, he's one of our leaders now, together with Jordan Lewis and obviously our Captain Luke Hodge. So, we're looking for him to have a signifcant influence, not only in the way that he plays his footy on-field but also the guidance and direction he gives some of our players off the field. He's very, very highly regarded by our Club and his teammates, and we look forward to him getting back to playing his best footy in 2012.
Thanks for joining me in this countdown Summer Series, there's still one more piece to be featured tomorrow so, I'd love you to come back to hawthornfc.com.au to pay tribute to some special people who support the Hawks.
I'll speak to you again tomorrow, bye for now.
What are your thoughts?
Leave your comments on Jarryd Roughead below with fellow Hawks fans. What impresses you most about Jarryd? How can Jarryd take the next step in 2012?
Read about more players from Clarko's Summer Series
