By Justin Schwarze
Jake Barclay lives and breathes the Pakenham Footy Club.
He ascended from being a superstar junior footballer with the Lions all the way to earning the prestigious title of senior captain.
But just like the club, his 2024 season came to a heartbreaking conclusion in a horrifying way.
In round 5 2024, Pakenham welcomed Monbulk to Toomuc Reserve for an intriguing clash.
However, it took just one awkward tackling collision to completely change the trajectory of the season.
“Someone was about to tackle me and I stopped to go inboard and ended up getting tackled by two of them,” Barclay remembered.
“One of them landed on the outside of my knee and collapsed on top of it so it folded underneath him.”
The result of the impact was a ruptured ACL and a fractured tibia, a reality that was incredibly difficult to comprehend.
Suddenly, in a single moment, Barclay’s season was over and the Lions had lost their valiant and brave skipper.
“It was really tough,” he reflected on the injury.
Thus began the long journey of coming to terms with the injury and starting to rehab it.
But one thing was certain; Barclay was going to spend an extended period of time on the sidelines watching his beloved footy club.
“It’s been really tough, frustrating at times,” he said of his rehab journey.
“Sometimes you struggle to find the motivation to get that rehab done.
“Everyone’s playing and I’ve had to sit back and watch.
“It’s tough being on the sidelines and mentally difficult trying to get back to the basics.
“Even doing a single leg jump, you’re constantly thinking about if you land wrong, you’re just trying to get the confidence to be able to do it.”
While he remained an avid supporter for his teammates, Pakenham fell apart on the year and was relegated from the Outer East Premier Division.
As the team went down, Barclay couldn’t do anything but be a spectator and a voice of guidance.
“It was tough, you want to be able to perform at the top level,” he said of the club going down.
“It was unfortunate how things went, but we can’t dwell on it, we’ve just got to look forward to what’s ahead.
“As much as it wasn’t good to see, I think it was also a really great thing for us to go through as a club to embrace the challenges and whatever happens in the years to come, we’ll reassess it then.”
Barclay’s positive attitude and constant leadership has been inspiring for the Lions as he became a pillar that the club leaned on during difficult times.
In the time that he has been out, Pakenham has dropped down a division, hired a new coach and elected a new president, along with plenty of player departures and arrivals.
When he finally laces up the boots again and pulls on the maroon jumper, he’ll be walking out to a completely new outfield.
But that new outfield is filled with innovation and has come in with an idea of what needs to be done.
“It’s been really good, Juzzy’s (Justin Stanton) been unreal and he’s been amazing communication wise,” Barclay said of his new coach.
“If there’s anything I ever need, I can just reach out to him.
“The club’s come so far in six months and even Salv (Mileto) the president, he’s just a beautiful light that shines over the club.
“It’s a second home, even when you’re working hard at footy but there’s a joy to it.
“It’s an amazing outlet to be able to go to the footy club for training, talk some smack with some mates and have a laugh but also enjoy my footy.”
Throughout his personal process on recovery, there has been no shortage of learning points and opportunities for reflection.
Due to the severity of his original injury, a graft was taken from Barclay’s hamstring to help the healing.
However, that has brought setbacks with it and initially unforeseen challenges.
“I tweaked the hamstring a month or two ago and that was a real negative thing, that played on the mindset a bit,” he admitted.
“Absolutely there’s been time for reflection.
“On a personal note, I’ve had to be patient and I’ve reflected on some of the rehab I’ve gone through.
“It’s a slow process with training.”
In the time, Barclay’s taken it upon himself to improve as a leader and become a bigger and better influence.
He has often been a runner for Pakenham, providing support and reassurance to the very young side.
“I’ve learned a lot of leadership from a vocal point of things,” he said.
“Something I’ve developed is being more vocal and being able to push that to the younger guys.
“I’m looking to push my leadership towards others and help them stand up more.
“Seeing the development of the younger guys who have been there for a while, their leadership standing up has been good.”
As it stands, there is currently no set timetable for Barclay’s return to the field.
And despite not playing a game this season, his impact has been felt by all those at the club around him.
“I’m looking forward to enjoying some success not only with the 21 other blokes I’m playing with, but the entire collective playing group,” he said.
“The positives I’ve had are just seeing the progress I’ve had going along.
“The steps I’ve been able to take have been great and I can see the progression in terms of pushing some weights and being able to change direction quite comfortably.”
When he eventually gets on the park for Pakenham, it will be an emotional day that will cap off a process of over a year since his original injury.
Barclay will continue to track towards his goal and keep bringing his mindset and persistence until then.
“There’s a mixture of nerves, emotion and excitement,” he said about returning.
“I can assume there’ll be a fair bit of emotion and some nervousness and then once the adrenaline kicks in, the excitement kicks in and I can play my part in the team.”
