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Alec McCormick was a key figure in the 2015 premiership and will be a welcome return to the team in 2017.
By Aaron Palazzo
After experiencing the heartache of a ruptured ACL this year (2016), Queanbeyan Tigers backman Alec McCormick has his eyes firmly on the 2017 season.
The 22 year old hopes to return to the footy field by early June and is looking forward to hitting the track in the upcoming pre-season.
Although he’s not yet ready to engage in tackling drills, McCormick remains confident that he’ll be able to participate in a large portion of the summer training due to the extra focus on skills instead of physicality.
A serious injury is devastating for any player, but the circumstances behind McCormick’s made the situation even more frustrating.
He twisted his knee in an intra-club match at the start of the year and also suffered a mild concussion in the process after his impact with the ground. He was diagnosed with an MCL tear and was expected to play again in 10 weeks. However, when that time had passed he knew his body still didn’t feel right.
“When that 10th week rolled around, I was just like ‘yeah I still can’t bend my knee as far as I should be able to, and it still hurts when I bend it that far,’” he said.
He was then sent in for an MRI, and a week later while at work he received the phone call to confirm the worst about his knee. The news almost brought him to tears.
Two weeks later he went under for surgery and his road to recovery began.
While on the sidelines, McCormick remained heavily involved in match day preparations, and in some games took control of coaching duties over the defenders.
He says that missing out on the grand final against the Tigers’ arch rival Ainslie was without a doubt the most difficult thing he’s had to experience due to his injury.
“It’s why you play footy, to play in grand finals but that’s the nature of the beast. But I’m only young and have plenty of footy ahead of me”.
After the loss of fellow backmen and club leaders Kade Klemke and Andrew Swan to the Canberra Demons, McCormick will be a welcome addition for new Queanbeyan first grade coach Dave Corcoran in the hope of taking the club one step further in 2017.