It’s been a long road-back for club’s Vice-Captain, after suffering a horrific broken leg against Fremantle during the side’s Round 6 clash last year at Metricon Stadium.
However after successfully completing a modified training program for the best part of twelve months, the 30-year-old is one step closer to continuing his AFL career after Gold Coast SUNS General Manager - Football Operations Marcus Ashcroft said Bock had been declared fit to make his first NEAFL appearance for 2013.
“It’s been a long time coming for Bocky because when you have an injury of that significance there’s no set date for when to come back,” Ashcroft said.
“While we had always had the 12 month date in the back of our mind, it’s been a bit longer because of the way Bock plays, where the break was in his leg and the rod being the size it was.”
Ashcroft said the club had to take the most conservative approach with the elder statesman, with Bock still a major puzzle piece to the Gold Coast achieving Chairman John Witheriff’s bold vision of 20-ONE-3.
“We had to be cautious because he is a very important player for our team,” said Ashcroft.
“But when you add it all up, it’s Round 10 and he suffered the injury in round 6 last year, so it’s been just over a year so it hasn’t been too far off the mark.”
With the emergence of Sam Day and Rory Thompson in the side’s new-look backline, and defensive stoppers Joel Wilkinson and Jack Hutchins having strung a number of appearances in the back half, Bock’s costly absence has resulted in some of the club’s younger crop of talent fast-tracking their development.
“We got to develop some of our other players and if you look at our back-six now as to when it was when Bock was there, we have Sam Day and Rory Thomson down there who are playing really good footy for us,” said Ashcroft.
“So it’s been one of the positive advantages to come from the injury.”
But while the exciting news is sure to be well-received by members, fans and supporters from the AFL community, Ashcroft concedes Bock will need to gain valuable match fitness before pushing forth reclaiming his spot in the much-improved senior team.
“I think for Bocky he’ll want the conditioning, match fitness and confidence to know he can play at that level,” Ashcroft said.
“This is the first real step for him to getting back to a stage where he will be in a position to play senior footy.”
