At Lakeside Stadium on Saturday the 19th of September, South Melbourne FC took on Hobart Olympia in the PS4 NPL finals series elimination final. As both teams were on the pitch warming up, captain Michael Eagar rolled his ankle, putting him out of the match, into a moon-boot and on a four month road to recovery.
Eagar has been a high profile player in Victorian football over the years, having also represented his country. The 26-year-old dual national has captained New Zealand at both Under 20 and Under 23 levels. His success over the last three years has led to many photos showing him holding up a range of football trophies.
In 2013 Eagar had a solid defensive season, helping Northcote City on their way to winning the Victorian Premier League with a 3-2 Championship win over Bentleigh Greens. The introduction of the National Premier League Victoria in 2014 saw Eagar join a number of familiar Northcote faces to make the transition to Lakeside and join South Melbourne.
As captain, he led the team to consecutive NPL Premierships, the inaugural Community Shield, and the club’s first Dockerty Cup win since 1995. It was then on the cusp of the 2015 NPL Nationals that Eagar suffered his injury, ending his campaign for the year on a night when South bowed out of the competition with a 1-2 loss to Hobart Olympia.
Having returned to the pitch for the first time during a recent pre-season friendly, Eagar spoke to TCF about the cause of his injury.
“It’s pretty unknown to me. It was pretty strange. I was warming up before the game against Hobart Olympia, just jogging away in a warm-up exercise, no one around me, didn’t put too much weight on it and just went over,” Eagar says.
“The next thing you know I ended up with ruptured ligaments on the inside, outside of my ankle and a small fracture. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been but the match result was the hardest thing to take that day.”
Whilst any injury is unfortunate, this one came at the best time in terms of opportunity for recovery. The club had finished its 2015 campaign that night, and it would be five months before its next competitive fixture – the Community Shield against Bentleigh Greens in February. As such, there was no pressure for Eagar to rush his return to the pitch.
He quickly found himself in a moon boot and a few weeks after than on hobbling around on crutches. In December he started the physical side of the recovery and was a regular on the track around Lakeside under the watchful eye of South Melbourne physio James Cole.
When TCF spoke with Eagar he had just finished his return to match practice in the club friendly with Eastern Lions. Asked where he was at with his recovery, he joked, “based on tonight’s performance, pretty far away.”
He added: “Seriously though it’s coming along, a little bit behind everyone else but by the end of January I aim to be right up there. I’m in full training, doing a little bit myself. Still not 100% yet.”
The core of the South Melbourne squad remains stable, with a number of additions already signed, including Marcus Schroen, Luke Eyles, Matt Foschini, Zaim Zenelli and Jason Hicks.
Eagar shared his view on the team, saying, “The new signings are really good. CT [coach Chris Taylor] always makes very good decisions and I know he is very conscious about good players but also great characters coming in and fitting in with the culture.”
“I think the new guys who have signed have really bought in already to what we are doing, they work very hard, they’ve got great quality.
“I think this time compared to last year, not taking anything away, but there’s probably a little bit more quality and a little bit more experience. How that translates we’ll find out during the season.”
The TCF interview with Eagar also provided an opportunity to gain an insight into the central defender’s thoughts on the upcoming season and fixtures he was looking forward to.
“If you look at the three new teams, you’d say Victory for sure,” he said. “The new franchise style football versus the older traditional club-based style that I personally prefer. That will be a great game for the players, spectators and everyone involved.
“Naturally, of course, the match against [Melbourne] Knights is always a big one. Heidelberg first game this season, we hope everyone turns out for that. Bentleigh as well given there’s a bit of a rivalry there given some of the games and contests we’ve had over the last couple of years.”
South Melbourne has a number of pre-season friendlies scheduled before the club kicks off the Victorian football season, playing 2015 NPL Grand Final Champions Bentleigh Greens in the FFV Community Shield at Kingston Heath on Friday 12th February.
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