FOR Karl Jacka, it’s all about the little wins.
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Getting out of hospital a couple of days early. Going to Beechworth to watch his beloved Cats. Taking his wife Cristy to the Rutherglen black tie ball.
When you’ve got as big a fight on your hands as Jacka, it’s the little wins that matter.
Three weeks ago, the happy-go-lucky Rutherglen coach had his world turned upside down when he was told he had stomach cancer.
Then, on what Jacka describes as “the worst day of my life”, a biopsy following surgery revealed the cancer in his stomach was, in fact, secondary and had spread from elsewhere.
At that point, the 35-year-old feared the worst.
“The message was the horse has bolted, it’s spread from somewhere, it’s into your stomach, there’s not a huge amount you can do,” he said.
“It was fairly confronting … it’s scary.”
A meeting with an oncologist earlier this week revealed the cancer had spread from his appendix and Jacka will start a three-to-four-month round of chemotherapy in the next fortnight.
While that sounds daunting to most, Jacka says it was a positive step forward.
A little win.
“I’m a numbers guy, I’m a solutions guy. I’ve gone from Monday week ago having zero chance – the message was that we might be able to contain this for a period of time but we can’t cure it,” he said.
“The Monday just gone, five days ago, I’ve walked out of that meeting thinking we’ve gone from zero chance to 50-50, with 50-50 meaning either cure, containment or remission.
“The reality of it is, I can’t take my bat and ball and go home.
“If I was to put my head in the sand and say ‘this is all too hard’, I don’t think that’s going to help my chances.
“If I put my tail between my legs, I don’t get the 50-50 chance, so the reality of it is that I need to get myself set to have a crack.”
The driving force for Jacka to remain positive is his wife of almost 11 years, Cristy, and their daughter, Lucy.
Jacka’s passion for Lucy is clear as he sends her off to school on Friday morning, even if the bubbly seven-year-old isn’t too thrilled that her old man has eaten the last of the Vegemite.
With a kiss and a cuddle before she heads out the door, Jacka reminds Lucy to bring her diary home from school so he can read all about her day.
A little win.
“My only two concerns are Cristy and Lucy,” he said.
“I have an hour or two a day where I struggle with Lucy. People say to keep your girls close, they’ll be your energy, and they are, but they’re also my kryptonite.
“There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t have really, really flat spots.
“They make you realise what you’re going to miss most of all if it does go bad and that’s a real possibility. There’s no getting around that.
“If I did only last two years, do I want to be a sad-sack and Lucy’s memories of me from seven to nine years old are of a cranky prick walking around the house?
“Or do I want those memories to be the person that I am with energy and positivity and try and impart some positive lessons on her that she may remember in 10 or 15 years’ time?
“To use a footy analogy, if you’re going to lose, you have to get something out if it.”
It’s that outlook on life that has made Jacka a popular coach and much-loved figure in sporting circles.
He arrived at Rutherglen after spending time at Lavington, Henty, Balranald, Howlong and Wodonga Raiders and says the support networks created from those football clubs has been “phenomenal”.
“Footy is important because if I didn’t have it, once the girls have gone off to school, I’d just be left here with my own thoughts and that one or two hours of negativity might stretch to four or five,” he said.
“I met Cristy at Lavi footy club, she was playing netball there.
“Most of the good things in my life have come about through football clubs … that’s not something I can let go of.”
While football is important to Jacka, he is equally important to football – particularly at Rutherglen
The Cats have dealt with more than their fair share of challenges this season – none bigger than the tragic death of popular netballer Jess McLennan in June – and Jacka’s leadership was important to a group of players predominantly under the age of 30.
“I’m not going to let Rutherglen footy club fall apart because of me, I've only been there for two years. It’s been there for 100 years and it will be there for another 100,” he said.
“If I approach it right, they’ll be better people, not footballers, people, for the lessons of this.
“One of the biggest lessons is to get checked out by a doctor if you feel something isn’t right.
“These kids have been through a lot this year and whether they like it or not, they’re on this ride with me.
“I can’t go into my shell, because that’s not who I am, and that’s a lesson they’re going to learn. I’m really mindful of that.”
In typical Jacka fashion, he will take an assistant-coaching role alongside Darren Hatton against Barnawartha on Saturday and hopes to return to the senior position against Thurgoona next weekend.
Depending on how his body reacts to chemotherapy, he is keen to coach the Cats in what looms as a thrilling Tallangatta and District league finals series.
“It’s about creating so many little wins to get momentum going my way,” he said.
“They’re little ticks that keep everyone smiling and everyone positive.
“If we can build up 100 of those ticks, it might just cancel out one of those losses, because those losses were enormous.
“If I set myself up to say the only win is a cure, I’m setting myself up to be back where I was on that Monday.
“I hope I can get the points and people can say ‘he is the fighter we knew him to be’. I don’t want to curl up in a ball and roll over.”
With an attitude like that, it’s hard to see Jacka coming up short.
And that would be a massive win.