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Koschitzke shattered by his year from hell
Samantha Lane
October 9, 2006
ST KILDA'S injury-prone Justin Koschitzke feels his AFL career is on a knife's edge and after a season of seemingly never-ending drama, has admitted it could take years to restore his confidence.
For all the promise the 24-year-old has shown over six years, Koschitzke is yet to play an entire season - his 20 matches in his 2001 debut year is, to date, his personal best. And while the talents of the versatile forward/ruckman are highly regarded - Koschitzke is also considered by some to be the Saints' most important player - he is battling self-doubt.
"I've been in the game six years … I've done nothing, I've got one year on a contract, I've got to do something … to make it as an AFL player. That's where I stand right now, honestly," Koschitzke told The Sunday Age last week.
"I've got one year to go [on my contract]. I think it's make or break. Can I sustain being an injury-free, week-in-week-out player? There's a massive question up there. And that's exactly how I feel. I've spoken about it with my mum and dad.
"I'm super-overrated for what I've done. Super-overrated. I'll be 25 at the end of next year, and if I don't deliver, I've got seven years of an undelivered AFL career. Six years ago if you'd told me what I'd done after six years, I'd be very disappointed."
Koschitzke's body and ego have been battered in a particularly eventful past five months. In May, his skull was fractured in an off-the-ball collision with Bulldog Daniel Giansiracusa that not only seriously injured but also embarrassed him. In mid-June, during his extended period of recuperation, he collapsed in a television interview.
Then, in only his second match back, he ran into an umpire at a stop-play during a VFL reserves match. That incident left him with a split lip, mild concussion, a chipped tooth and a one-match suspension.
Koschitzke finally made his senior return in round 19 and played in the Saints' final five matches of the season without serious incident. But he admitted his confidence won't be fully rebuilt for some time.
"It's probably going to take a couple of years, and I just pray to God that I've got that left in me," he said. "I never, ever want to go through what I went through this year again. Those last five games were hell.
"The worst bit was coming back and not being fit and being very lonely. You feel like you're not contributing, like I couldn't do what the side needed me to do."
Having disposed of the protective helmet he wore, and despised, during those five matches - Koschitzke threw it in Albert Park Lake at the end of St Kilda's season - his hopes are high for the new year.
"This is the first time in four years that I haven't had an operation after a season. It's the first time in six years that I can start pre-season day one," he said.
Koschitzke has expressed hopes of becoming St Kilda's chief ruckman. His ambitions were supported by former coach Grant Thomas, but as long as the identity of Thomas's successor remains unresolved, so too does Koschitzke's playing future.
Samantha Lane
October 9, 2006
ST KILDA'S injury-prone Justin Koschitzke feels his AFL career is on a knife's edge and after a season of seemingly never-ending drama, has admitted it could take years to restore his confidence.
For all the promise the 24-year-old has shown over six years, Koschitzke is yet to play an entire season - his 20 matches in his 2001 debut year is, to date, his personal best. And while the talents of the versatile forward/ruckman are highly regarded - Koschitzke is also considered by some to be the Saints' most important player - he is battling self-doubt.
"I've been in the game six years … I've done nothing, I've got one year on a contract, I've got to do something … to make it as an AFL player. That's where I stand right now, honestly," Koschitzke told The Sunday Age last week.
"I've got one year to go [on my contract]. I think it's make or break. Can I sustain being an injury-free, week-in-week-out player? There's a massive question up there. And that's exactly how I feel. I've spoken about it with my mum and dad.
"I'm super-overrated for what I've done. Super-overrated. I'll be 25 at the end of next year, and if I don't deliver, I've got seven years of an undelivered AFL career. Six years ago if you'd told me what I'd done after six years, I'd be very disappointed."
Koschitzke's body and ego have been battered in a particularly eventful past five months. In May, his skull was fractured in an off-the-ball collision with Bulldog Daniel Giansiracusa that not only seriously injured but also embarrassed him. In mid-June, during his extended period of recuperation, he collapsed in a television interview.
Then, in only his second match back, he ran into an umpire at a stop-play during a VFL reserves match. That incident left him with a split lip, mild concussion, a chipped tooth and a one-match suspension.
Koschitzke finally made his senior return in round 19 and played in the Saints' final five matches of the season without serious incident. But he admitted his confidence won't be fully rebuilt for some time.
"It's probably going to take a couple of years, and I just pray to God that I've got that left in me," he said. "I never, ever want to go through what I went through this year again. Those last five games were hell.
"The worst bit was coming back and not being fit and being very lonely. You feel like you're not contributing, like I couldn't do what the side needed me to do."
Having disposed of the protective helmet he wore, and despised, during those five matches - Koschitzke threw it in Albert Park Lake at the end of St Kilda's season - his hopes are high for the new year.
"This is the first time in four years that I haven't had an operation after a season. It's the first time in six years that I can start pre-season day one," he said.
Koschitzke has expressed hopes of becoming St Kilda's chief ruckman. His ambitions were supported by former coach Grant Thomas, but as long as the identity of Thomas's successor remains unresolved, so too does Koschitzke's playing future.