“Still feeling a little bit disappointed obviously, better than I was when I found out for the first time yesterday around lunchtime, I was pretty emotional when the doctor came into the room and told me I’d ruptured my ACL and would be out for 12 months, that really hit home.”
“It’s a lot to deal with, it’s pretty big news when you’re not going to be playing the game you love for 12 months, so yeah it hit home yesterday but yeah feeling a bit more upbeat today, I’ve had a lot of support from friends and family and all the football club so it’s been good.” Smith told goldcoastfc.com.au
A date for Smith’s reconstructive surgery is yet to be set, however the 205cm giant has already met with surgeons and is eager to get the healing process underway as soon as possible.
“Yeah so I met with him last night, a local guy on the Gold Coast. He had a good look at it and doesn’t want to do any surgery until the swelling has gone down, so ideally 10 days and I’ll be getting surgery done.”
One of the first to contact Smith was GC SUNS Assistant Coach Matthew Primus, the former All Australian Ruckman who was cruelly robbed of a Premiership medallion at Port Adelaide after rupturing his ACL.
“Matty Primus called me last night when I was at home and he told me he’d been through it three times which is pretty full-on, I’m just thinking about one and it’s a lot to deal with and he’s gone through 3 and he just basically told me “it’s going to be okay and you’re going to get back to where you were and your knee is going to be as strong as ever.”
“It is good having guys like him around the club, having gone through this, it gives you hope.”
Zac now set to tread a path very similar to that of courageous defender Seb Tape who is preparing for his return to AFL football after rupturing his ACL in Round 12 last year.
“Yeah I am good mates with Seb, I haven’t spoken to him yet, he did send me a long text saying everything is going to be okay, it’s good to have him around the club as well, he’s probably going to play his first game in 12 months and I’m basically going to go down the exact same path that he’s gone down for the past 12 months.”
“It gives me confidence hearing what he’s had to say about it and he’s fitter than ever now.”
The Club’s coaching staff have scoured match vision looking for the precise moment Smiths injury occurred, Smith himself unsure as to when it occurred.
“Yeah definitely not, I knew I had hurt it I thought I may have tweaked it or something because I slide on the ground and got tackled by Minson, and got back up straight away and hobbled away and I started running again and I thought it wasn’t anything too bad but it progressively got worse from there, there was just a few contests and stuff where it just felt unstable when I twisted and turned.”
“I was alright to run in a straight line but when I twisted and turned it sort of felt vulnerable.”
Coach Guy McKenna saying he was disappointed to see Smith who had been working so hard on his game, sidelined for an extended period of time.
"It's shattering news for the big fella, he's been a real key for us, and he has been ever since he started his AFL career," McKenna said.
"Bittersweet if you like, after the good win on the weekend.
"It was a full credit to him to want to soldier on and keep going, but (at) halftime we certainly erred on the side of caution and obviously the scan today proved the doctor right."
Smith has played 44 AFL games since debuting for the Gold Coast SUNS in 2011 and is determined to add to his tally and play a role in securing a maiden AFL Premiership for the Gold Coast.
“Yeah definitely, even after this I might have even more of a hunger for the game, as I said earlier on I’m going to miss playing the game I love for 12 months, and that’s a long time out of the game and I’m definitely going to build a stronger hunger for the game.”
