Re-enter the Dragga!
Tony Greenberg
richmondfc.com.au
8:31:31 AM Thu 3 July, 2003
It took 785 days, but Marc Dragicevic has finally moved off the ‘dreaded’ 43-game figure that he’d been stuck on since rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during Richmond’s Round 6 match against the Kangaroos at the then Colonial Stadium (now Telstra Dome) in 2001.
Two knee reconstructions later – and several kilograms (of muscle) heavier -- Dragicevic resumed his AFL career for the Tigers, in last Saturday night’s Round 13, 2003 match against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.
Interestingly, the last time Dragicevic had pulled on the No. 7 Richmond jumper in a premiership-season match, the Lions were struggling in 9th place on the ladder with a 2-3 record. Back-to-back premierships for them at that stage seemed light years away!
For ‘Dragga’, the road back to league football also has appeared just as distant at various stages during the past couple of years.
A pre-season shoulder injury, followed by shin soreness, further hampered Dragicevic’s progress in the first half of this season. But after stringing together several performances for Richmond’s VFL affiliate, the Coburg Tigers, the window of opportunity was prised open for the 22-year-old.
“It was very good to have that feeling again of the butterflies before the game, driving to the ground, seeing the supporters on the footpaths, all their scarves and club colors . . . just that feeling you get when you know you’re going to a big game,” Dragicevic said.
“I was just grateful for the opportunity again – it’s been a long road back.
“Just over a month ago, I was still struggling a bit with fitness and form, but I was able to keep plugging away on the track and finally things turned around.
“It was just a matter of getting a bit of consistency, more confidence and self-belief back. You don’t realise how much your match fitness does deteriorate when you don’t play for such a long time.
“Obviously, that was the case with me – but each week it just got a little bit better, until it reached the stage where I was able to run out a game.”
Having been out of the game at the highest level for so long, it was only natural Dragga would take some time to adjust the hectic tempo.
“I went from Coburg Tigers-Northern Bullants one week to Richmond and Brisbane the next . . . it’s a fair bit different, with no disrespect to the VFL competition,” he said.
“It was certainly a lot faster and you obviously have to make the decisions in your head a lot quicker. Basically, everything about the game just speeds up.
“Hopefully, with a couple of runs under the belt at that level, I’ll be used to it again.”
Dragicevic finished his comeback match with four kicks, five handballs, one mark, two tackles and one goal (an eye-catching 50-metre effort on the run) – far from best-on-ground material, but not bad for a first-up performance, especially when you consider he spent a fair amount of time on the interchange bench.
“It was just good to be back out there again. There were times when I was a bit rushed and I actually had more time than I probably realised . . . that will come with playing more and more games,” he said.
“The goal was a bonus . . . wasn’t much response from the crowd, though. Would have been nice if it had been at the ‘G’ in front of our supporters – but it certainly was a bonus.”
As fate would have it, Dragga made his long-awaited league comeback on the same day as another Tiger knee victim, Ben Holland.
“Ben and I were talking about it a couple of weeks ago and we actually set our goal to get back for the Brisbane game,” Dragicevic said.
“We just said if we could keep improving then we were a real chance . . . I thought ‘Dutchy’ was always going to be ready to go, but obviously I had to step up a bit. We said it would be nice for us to make the comeback in the same game, and that’s the way it worked out, which was really pleasing.”
Unfortunately, Richmond couldn’t cap the night off for its ‘comeback kids’ with a win, but Dragicevic is confident the Tigers can get their season back on track after five consecutive losses.
“Again on the weekend, we played good footy in patches . . . I just think we need to even out the ‘hills’ and play good, consistent footy for the four quarters.
“If we can do that for the entire game, we’ll be in business,” he said.
Tony Greenberg
richmondfc.com.au
8:31:31 AM Thu 3 July, 2003
It took 785 days, but Marc Dragicevic has finally moved off the ‘dreaded’ 43-game figure that he’d been stuck on since rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during Richmond’s Round 6 match against the Kangaroos at the then Colonial Stadium (now Telstra Dome) in 2001.
Two knee reconstructions later – and several kilograms (of muscle) heavier -- Dragicevic resumed his AFL career for the Tigers, in last Saturday night’s Round 13, 2003 match against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.
Interestingly, the last time Dragicevic had pulled on the No. 7 Richmond jumper in a premiership-season match, the Lions were struggling in 9th place on the ladder with a 2-3 record. Back-to-back premierships for them at that stage seemed light years away!
For ‘Dragga’, the road back to league football also has appeared just as distant at various stages during the past couple of years.
A pre-season shoulder injury, followed by shin soreness, further hampered Dragicevic’s progress in the first half of this season. But after stringing together several performances for Richmond’s VFL affiliate, the Coburg Tigers, the window of opportunity was prised open for the 22-year-old.
“It was very good to have that feeling again of the butterflies before the game, driving to the ground, seeing the supporters on the footpaths, all their scarves and club colors . . . just that feeling you get when you know you’re going to a big game,” Dragicevic said.
“I was just grateful for the opportunity again – it’s been a long road back.
“Just over a month ago, I was still struggling a bit with fitness and form, but I was able to keep plugging away on the track and finally things turned around.
“It was just a matter of getting a bit of consistency, more confidence and self-belief back. You don’t realise how much your match fitness does deteriorate when you don’t play for such a long time.
“Obviously, that was the case with me – but each week it just got a little bit better, until it reached the stage where I was able to run out a game.”
Having been out of the game at the highest level for so long, it was only natural Dragga would take some time to adjust the hectic tempo.
“I went from Coburg Tigers-Northern Bullants one week to Richmond and Brisbane the next . . . it’s a fair bit different, with no disrespect to the VFL competition,” he said.
“It was certainly a lot faster and you obviously have to make the decisions in your head a lot quicker. Basically, everything about the game just speeds up.
“Hopefully, with a couple of runs under the belt at that level, I’ll be used to it again.”
Dragicevic finished his comeback match with four kicks, five handballs, one mark, two tackles and one goal (an eye-catching 50-metre effort on the run) – far from best-on-ground material, but not bad for a first-up performance, especially when you consider he spent a fair amount of time on the interchange bench.
“It was just good to be back out there again. There were times when I was a bit rushed and I actually had more time than I probably realised . . . that will come with playing more and more games,” he said.
“The goal was a bonus . . . wasn’t much response from the crowd, though. Would have been nice if it had been at the ‘G’ in front of our supporters – but it certainly was a bonus.”
As fate would have it, Dragga made his long-awaited league comeback on the same day as another Tiger knee victim, Ben Holland.
“Ben and I were talking about it a couple of weeks ago and we actually set our goal to get back for the Brisbane game,” Dragicevic said.
“We just said if we could keep improving then we were a real chance . . . I thought ‘Dutchy’ was always going to be ready to go, but obviously I had to step up a bit. We said it would be nice for us to make the comeback in the same game, and that’s the way it worked out, which was really pleasing.”
Unfortunately, Richmond couldn’t cap the night off for its ‘comeback kids’ with a win, but Dragicevic is confident the Tigers can get their season back on track after five consecutive losses.
“Again on the weekend, we played good footy in patches . . . I just think we need to even out the ‘hills’ and play good, consistent footy for the four quarters.
“If we can do that for the entire game, we’ll be in business,” he said.
