Clubs feel young Devil's pain

By Julian Trantino (@jtrantino16)

It’s one of the most dreaded injuries in football, and one which can end a career.

On Saturday March 29, Jake Francis lay in agony on the pitch, daring not to look below his knees and fearing the worst.

The talented midfielder, who was playing for Ballarat Red Devils away to Goulburn Valley Suns in the National Premier Leagues (NPL) U20s, had copped the full brunt of a non-malicious tackle which broke both the tibia and fibula bones in his leg.

And if that ordeal wasn’t horrific enough, the match was abandoned as the brave 16-year-old was forced to wait 100 minutes for paramedics to arrive on the scene at Shepparton’s McEwen Reserve.

“I didn’t see the incident, but from all accounts it wasn’t the worst tackle and just one of those ones that happen every now and again, but we were really disappointed for Jake [Francis],” Ballarat chairman Duncan Smith said.

The incident shocked onlookers, who had come expecting the NPL seniors to kick off at 6.30, but were instead greeted by an ambulance parked in the middle of the pitch.

At 6.45, Francis was wheeled off in the stretcher and consoled by Ballarat’s senior players and staff, among them player-coach James Robinson.

The seniors finally kicked off minutes later, and despite losing a thrilling 3-2 match in the final 10 seconds to Ballarat, the shattering loss was almost insignificant to Goulburn Valley coach Melvyn Wilkes.

“On the Sunday after the match, I was trying to get some contact information for Jake [Francis] and tried the local Shepparton hospital. It was a bit hard because I’m new to the area and everyone’s sort of new to me,” Wilkes explained.

“I did manage to get a contact and I’m not sure if it was a family contact or family friend, but she said that Jake had been transferred to Ballarat.

“She told me the severity of the injury and I got in touch with Duncan Smith, the chairman of Ballarat, and just passed on our best wishes.”

Wilkes, a former Manchester City player, said he was no stranger to witnessing horrific injuries and could sympathise with Francis, who successfully underwent surgery last week and is expected to make a full recovery despite being in a wheelchair for the next fortnight.

“I’ve dealt with some players at a professional level in the UK who have been on the end of severe injuries. A lot of the time, and this was what the Ballarat doctor was alluding to, once a player’s injured they’re always sort of forgotten about,” the Englishman said.

“The minute they get better again, they seem to come back on the radar and as I said to Duncan [Smith], we have a duty of care not just to our players at the Goulburn Valley Suns, but to the players in general in Australia.

“Something like this brings home the fact that there’s bigger things to worry about in the world. The kid here has had a career-threatening injury, and yet there’s still people moaning about other nonsense in life.”

At the time of writing, Wilkes said Goulburn Valley was preparing for a hamper to be sent to Francis to “help out Jake and his family”.

Smith said he and the Ballarat fraternity appreciated Goulburn Valley’s thoughtful gesture.

“I was pleased that the coach [Wilkes] called me and also the chairman of the club sent me an email about their concerns,” Smith said.

“He’s [Francis] a Ballarat boy who has come through the academy here. He’s a very talented player, comes from a good family and he’s got a bright future ahead of him.

“He even came in on his wheelchair on the weekend to watch some of the academy game in Ballarat, and a lot of the boys when up to him to see how he was going.

“We’ll just do whatever we possibly can for him.”

Though still coming to grips with the season-ending injury to one of its much-loved local products, the mood is buoyant at Ballarat, with its senior team registering a perfect start to the season with wins against Goulburn Valley and Northcote City.

“To have played two matches and won them both, one being the longest trip in the league up to Shepparton and then of course to beat the premier team from last season at their home ground 3-1, it’s a dream start,” Smith said.

Smith said that while Ballarat may have been underestimated at the start of the NPL season, its form was making the rest of the NPL competition stand up and take notice.

“I was in there [at Northcote City] getting a beer at halftime and there were half a dozen old blokes around who weren’t even sure where Ballarat was,” Smith recalled.

“Someone asked, ‘where is Ballarat?’ and another said, ‘oh I think it’s up near Bendigo in the bush somewhere’. I just had a bit of a giggle to myself, but I’m sure by the end of the game they found out where Ballarat was.

“We’re going to get that for who knows how long, but hopefully people will start realising that we’re not just a bunch of country hicks.”

For Smith, the most pleasing aspect of Ballarat’s barnstorming start is that it has come on the back of its local talent.

“Out of the starting 11 on Saturday, there were eight players who have come out of the Ballarat academy, and then the three players who came off the bench all came through the Ballarat academy.”

“That makes the win even more special, remarkable or whatever word you want to use...it says a lot about what’s going on up here in Ballarat.”

With the long road to recovery ahead of him, Ballarat will be hoping that another of its locals, Francis, can successfully return and also one day fulfil his potential in the NPL.

Pictured: Ballarat's U20 NPL player Jake Francis in action for the the Victorian NTC team in 2012 (image credit: Facebook)




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