But the big Demon feels he has now removed that uncertainty and, pending a fitness test, there is a strong likelihood that he will return against Port Adelaide on Sunday to play his first game since round 13 last year.
Clark was struck down by a severe Lisfranc tear in his right foot, which required surgery and a long rehabilitation process during 2012.
"You do go through a few dark times there, it's a long hard battle in rehab," Clark said at AAMI Park on Tuesday morning.
Clark was ruled out for the latter part of 2012 after injuring his foot against Greater Western Sydney, meaning he has had close to nine months out of football.
He played three and half quarters, alongside co-captain Jack Trengove, in a VFL practice match for the Casey Scorpions last Saturday and importantly the pair made it through unscathed.
Clark admits there is still work to do, but has been buoyed by getting some continuity in his training through the last four weeks.
"Being out for so long you're trying to figure out whether you can still play footy I guess, but I've gained confidence in training over the last month and obviously I'm going to get better as time goes by."
The Lisfranc injury is rare and can be potentially career threatening. Clark revealed that he sought advice from former Richmond star Matthew Richardson who sustained the same injury in the early stages of his Tigers' career.
"I've caught up with Richo once or twice and had contact over the phone, and he had his (injury) early in his career and he came back to be an awesome player," Clark said.
"I'm pretty confident now that it's (the foot) all good and it's nice and strong."
Clark was forced to watch on last year as the Demons struggled through the season.
"I did feel quite guilty, I was sort of stuck in bed for about six weeks watching the boys. I hated it to be honest," he said.
"We'll be better off for going through those times - it will make us stronger and we learned quite a lot."
But he said an influx of new players brought in to the club this season - many who are a strong chances to play against the Power this Sunday - has the club confident it has turned the corner.
Chris Dawes, David Rodan, Shannon Byrnes, Tom Gillies, Jimmy Toumpas and Jack Viney are those in line to make their Demons' debut, while Dean Kent, Dean Terlich and Matt Jones are also pushing their cases.
Although there are extra concerns for Kent who will be hoping to beat a striking charge when he fronts the VFL tribunal on Tuesday night.
The untried formula of Clark and Dawes in the same forward line will not just be a new challenge for opposition teams, but for the players themselves.
"We haven't actually trained together, so we've got two sessions to get it right," Clark said.
"I'm not too sure how it will work, it should be fun, I've become quite close to Dawesy over this pre-season and I'm looking forward to playing alongside him.
"These things do take time, and from watching him I'm still trying to learn how he plays and where he moves, and where he likes the footy."
Mitch Clark is a forward in AFL Fantasy. Register your team at our AFL Fantasy Hub .
Ben Guthrie is a reporter for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter- @AFL_BenGuthrie
