Essendon champion, Scott Lucas, will bring up his 250th AFL game this Saturday night against Hawthorn but - after suffering a serious knee injury in Round 1 - today admitted there were times this season when he wondered if he would ever get back.
“Everyone, when they get injured and are going to miss a significant amount of time, thinks ‘what if it doesn’t go right’ but that’s at the back of the mind and at the front of your mind is trying to do everything to get back but yeah there is always a little bit out doubt there,” he said.
“I have been lucky when it comes to injuries though. You like to tick all the boxes and have a good level of application to your game recovery and preparation during the season but a lot of it is luck.
""My injury in Round 1 was bad luck but I was lucky it hadn’t happened earlier in my career so you just try and control what you can.
“Before my 200th and 150th games I was quite into it and excited but that fact I have missed the last 10-weeks with injury means I haven’t been thinking about it (the 250th) at all which sounds funny.
“I just want us to play like we did last week and I want to play better but, on reflection, I will look back on it with a great deal of pride.”
Coach Matthew Knights said Lucas has flown under the radar when it comes to public recognition because of being surrounded by players like Lloyd and Hird, and his 250th is a chance to recognise his career.
“It’s a fantastic occasion because he has been a true champion of the club. Having played against him I have seen it first hand from the opposition,” Knights said.
“Probably his best trait, as far as I am concerned, is that he is a conventional forward in that he can take marks and kick goals off the lead but he can also kick goals off the ground and around the corner.
""Those types of players are really difficult to catch up on and that’s why he’s so important to us.”
The 30-year-old says he is feeling sore after his first game back last week but, overall, his body feels good and he still has the fire in the belly to compete at AFL level.
“My motivation is higher now than is past years,” Lucas said.
“As you get older there is the motivation to prove you can do what you did in your mid twenties and also to see the club return to where it should be.
""When you are winning it becomes a routine and habit so now the motivation is up to make sure everyone is doing everything right because we need too.”
The father of three - who is currently in the middle of contract negotiations - says he think he has played some of his best football as he has gotten older and is keen to play out his career at the Bombers.
Knights says Lucas is still a key player at the club.
“We hold him in high regard and sooner rather than later we will come to an end solution about that (contract negotiations),” Knights said.
“We will work this out behind closed doors and come to a solution because he is a big part of the club.
""I have said before that I wouldn’t dare trade him and one of the club’s four pillars is community and he is a big part of the Essendon community.
“Just last week Adelaide put Bock on him, who is a potential All-Australian centre half back, which shows the respect other teams hold him in.
""And it allowed other Essendon forwards to move and play well and you have to play him some credit for taking a good opponent.”
Lucas says he can see a bright future at the club and hopes to still be playing when the club’s premiership window opens.
“If my time is four years I think we are in with a big show if it is a year or two year then we might be pushing it because these young guys need games and need the experience of competing and learning week-in week-out but I think, going forward, things look good for the club,” he said.
“We have plenty of younger players getting experience but what is the great unknown is you just don’t know how good they are going to be. It’s a hard one to read but we are moving in the right direction there is no doubt.”
