ON TUESDAY night, Caleb Marchbank didn’t have any idea of what was to come.
But particularly post-match on Friday, he couldn’t have been any more thankful.
The long wait - the 1,069-day wait - was finally over for the much-loved Blue, who ran out onto the MCG in a Carlton jumper for the first time in three years.
What ensued was an unscathed return, the chance to once again do what he loved and - for the cherry on top - a win against the arch rival.
And Marchbank admitted that while the journey was a taxing one, the chance to link arms and sing the song in the victorious rooms went some way to remedying an arduous run.
“I had to take a moment after the game to take it all in,” Marchbank said.
“Three years of missing out and sitting on the sidelines, it quickly goes away when you have a win like that out on the ‘G in front of 65,000. It was pretty nice.”
It was announced on social media just minutes following the man himself got the news that Round 13 would mark Marchbank’s return, 72 hours before the actual game got underway.
These things can generally go one of two ways. Was it going to play on Marchbank’s mind up until game time, or was the chance to overcome the emotion of it all and then pivot focus to the game going to be the case?
For an admittedly emotional Marchbank, it was very much the latter. Even if that meant turning his phone off for a few days.
“I didn’t have an inkling at all, it was a bit of a shock. I got quite emotional,” he said on the Tuesday night reveal.
“[The early announcement] certainly helped. The texts and call have been overwhelming: I really appreciate it, but I thought it’d be best to turn it off and focus on the game.”
It wasn’t just one injury for Marchbank, who instead continuously encountered setbacks — it started with a neck injury which saw him in a brace in 2019, and culminated in an ACL injury in his return VFL practice match in 2021 which he recently returned from.
While Marchbank himself was a source of inspiration and gratitude for his teammates, the key defender looked at the journeys of two teammates and, in particular, the sparkling form they have shown this season.
It provided the impetus to get back and play alongside them: those two being Charlie Curnow and Sam Docherty. In the case of the latter and Marchbank, it was the first time they have been teammates in five years.
“I was just grateful to get through and play another senior game. There were probably times where I didn’t think that it would happen,” he said.
“Two significant injuries happened and during that rehab stage, it’s quite a long process and you do have doubts in your mind that playing senior footy might not happen again.
“I’m fortunate in the sense that I’ve got guys like ‘Doc’ and Charlie going through similar circumstances. To be able to watch them play some outstanding football, it was inspiring to me and something I really looked up to.”
A mountain of work and care was provided by those inside and outside the walls of IKON Park to get Marchbank back in action.
However, when asked to name some of those who had crucial roles to play in his comeback trail, Marchbank said it’d be remiss of him not to outline three special people.
“Firstly, my family. Mum and Dad and my partner Celeste: those three in particular have been there since the start,” he said.
“I kind of feel bad singling those three out because there are so many that have done so much, but I certainly wouldn’t have been a good person to hang around because I was fairly moody for the last three years!
“The football club and the wider support in the community, it’s been super. I can’t thank them enough.”
