BigBlog

Well it’s season over for us now and while I didn’t play the past two games due to injury it was great to watch the boys beat Collingwood last weekend. That was enjoyable and I suppose a good way to end what has been a pretty disappointing season.

Looking at the season overall, we were basically very competitive in most games throughout the year. Realistically I think there were only about two games that we weren’t able to be ultra-competitive in. But in the end we just weren’t able to sustain enough pressure on the opposition at crucial points in the game and either get a bit of a run on or at least capitalise on the good bits of our game. So if you look at it that way, things aren’t all doom and gloom.

There’s no one single thing you can say caused things to go the way they went this year. It’s a combination of things. Look, we may have got one or two things wrong with our planning and preparation this year but we’ve looked at that and are definitely steadfast in our efforts in those areas.

Basically, we are now looking ahead to next year when there’s going to be quite a few changes in personnel happening. We had eight guys retiring in the past few weeks, so there will be a lot of newer guys coming in. With that comes a degree of anxiety, sure, but we won’t be shying away from that anxiety. With the new faces comes a huge amount of excitement so that will certainly make things interesting.

The football world realises these days that footy is played by a lot younger guys and played a lot differently than a few years ago. Sure, experience is important and it helps, but I think when you consider teams like Western Bulldogs or Hawthorn, for example, are very young sides that certainly gives us faith that not only can we be competitive but that we can turn things around very quickly.

The great thing is that with youth comes enthusiasm and I think we can look ahead with a fair degree of confidence that we can get things back on track next year.

While our playing season has now finished, there are still quite a few commitments I have to fulfil. I will be back and forth from Perth up until the Grand Final with various functions and what-not. I will also catch up with the family in Adelaide during that time and then after the Grand Final we have our best and fairest presentation.

After that, for me it’s time for a bit of a holiday. Lauren and I are actually heading off to Europe for a few weeks, so that’s something I’m really looking forward to. I’m sure we’ll have a great time. We’re heading to Croatia, Italy and France, so that’s pretty exciting.

After that we’re basically back up and training in the first couple of weeks in November. Some of the younger guys will be back training in October but as I have a few years under my belt I get a bit longer time off! But once I start training it will be full steam ahead. That serious training is very important if you want to be competitive these days. We won’t be cutting any corners and, as I said, I’m really looking forward to the challenge of next year.

After the weekend I have no doubts that Geelong will again be the team to beat in September. The way they are playing they are going to be very hard to toss in the finals and I just can’t see them losing.

Having said that though I think Hawthorn and Western Bulldogs are capable, but they would have to take their games to a higher level than what they are playing at now.

The game against the Cats was disappointing; it always is when you lose, no matter who you lose to. Ultimately we couldn’t go with them for the full four quarters after matching them early.

A lot was said about how niggly the game was early. While no one actually goes out there to start that kind of thing, it happened. Geelong were probably trying to assert their dominance and we weren’t keen to let them.

Unfortunately for Cameron Ling, Dean Soloman took things a bit too far with his hit on him and it wasn’t acceptable to the Cats or to us. Dean knows he did the wrong thing and has apologised to all parties and he now has eight weeks to cool his heels.

I think it was a fair decision given Dean has been to the tribunal a few times in his career.

Since my last post Peter Bell has retired from the game. Peter was a fantastic player and is a great person. When he wasn’t on the plane last week I felt like something was missing.

There aren’t too many senior games of footy I have played without him there and he was missed by all of us.

At the same time it was great to see Peter go out on his terms. He is a legendary player and a true gentleman of the game and he deserves no less.

I actually had an idea this was coming after having dinner with Peter a month ago as he was talking about hanging up the boots, so it wasn’t a total shock to me.

This week we have run some school clinics. It’s always good to get out and see kids who love their footy and are the next generation of players coming through the ranks.

We also have a tough game against thee Demons and while the obvious motivation will be to win this one to get away from the bottom of the ladder, I actually think it’s more important to win to give a lot of the younger guys in the team some confidence.

It’s been a lean year and a lot of the young first and second year players haven’t had a lot to cheer about.

Speaking of cheers it is a fantastic achievement for a young club such as Fremantle to have the third most members in the AFL. It just shows that even though things aren’t going so well on the field, off it the club is being run very well and supported.

Pav

Seeing as we are in the middle of the split round I thought I would write about the importance of the week off to the players in the AFL.

While playing footy for a living is a great job and one I wouldn’t trade for any other, it has its pressures like any other job. Just like accountancy, journalism, hospitality or legal,  footy as a profession is full-on and at times you need a break.

You need to be switched on all the time, whether you are at training, playing or dealing with media requests. It’s basically football 24/7. The split round gives us all a week, or a few days, during the season to relax, switch off and not worry about AFL football, which in a two team town like Perth is quite hard to do.

Generally I would say 99% of the conversations I have are about footy and while that’s great, with the media coverage we have had this season it hasn’t been the best time to talk footy.

Those few days off do you a world of good. In the past I have gone on holidays to places like Broome, but this time I elected to stay in the greater Perth area and used my time off to catch up with some uni work and fit in a couple of rounds of golf. Overall it was fairly relaxing.

I’m a member at Royal Fremantle and played nine holes on the Monday. After that I got in 18 at Joondalup, playing the Dune 9 and the Quarry 9 on Tuesday. Joondalup is a great course and I recommend it to anyone who loves golf, especially if you couple the Quarry 9 with the Lake 9.

As I said the time off also gave me a chance to catch up on some uni work. I’m doing a Bachelor of Science with commerce and, while I like it as it provides a different challenge, I just want to finish the course. I have been doing it part time and a three year course part time over seven years can be frustrating.

I also took some time to watch the State of Origin last night. I’ve always enjoyed watching league and have cheered the Maroons since I was a kid although I can’t remember why. It’s funny as a mate of mine who grew up over here has always cheered the Blues and he has no idea why.

To see Queensland get up was great. I take my hat off to Johnathan Thurston, he made the play that allowed Billy Slater to score the winning try and showed why he is a great player.

In terms of footy we are preparing for Geelong next weekend and while they are the benchmark, we know we can cause them trouble. We suffered from a bit of a mental lapse last time around and someone who shall remain nameless hit the post in the last 20 seconds, but you simply move on from those things.

I was saddened to hear the news about my former team mate Graham Polak being struck by a tram during the week. Thankfully Graham’s condition has reportedly improved and the signs of a recovery are good.

I wish Graham and his family all the best and hope to see him out on the field again someday.

Pav

With half the season behind us I am looking forward to the next 11 games and a chance to turn it all around.

However while I love my footy and feel lucky to be able to play a sport I genuinely love for a living, I thought I would take the time to devote this column to something else I enjoy which is travel.

I’ve obviously never had the opportunity to have a gap year or to travel and work like some of my mates did after school or university. After finishing my HSC as a 17 year old I came straight to Perth, missing 18th and 21st birthday parties most weekends.

It was hard at the time and I struggled with it originally. While my mates were partying I was preparing for footy games, but after a while I got used to it and am happy with the decision I made and I count myself lucky to be an AFL footballer.

At the end of the season plenty of the boys take the time to enjoy the 6-8 weeks off we are given. At the end of this season I am planning on heading to Europe with my partner Lauren for a holiday.

It’s not the first time I have been, but it will be a little different this time and I am looking forward to it.

Last time I went I travelled to France, Holland, the UK and Belgium and I had a great time. Part of the trip was by myself and while I recognise it was something I had to do, it’s not something I would want to do now.

I think when you travel it’s always better to have someone to share the experience with and in part that is what I am most looking forward to at the end of the year.

The first time around I most enjoyed the cities of Paris and London and their cultures, which are obviously quite different to ours but I think I most enjoyed the time I had to relax in Paris, sip a coffee and watch the city roll by. It really is a beautiful city.

This time around I want to see more of France including Bordeaux, Burgundy and Provence as well as spending a lot of time in Italy and Croatia.

Despite my Croatian heritage (four or five generations on my father’s side) I have never been there and never really researched the past. What I do know is everyone who has been to Croatia always says how beautiful the place is and I am looking forward to heading there some day.

Back to footy and this weekend we are taking on the Kangaroos. They are always dangerous but we will be looking to play well and snatch a victory.

Pav

There’s no denying it, the past few weeks have been tough, but as a team we feel we have been doing a lot of things right on the field. Each week we have had one area of our game that has really hurt us, but it hasn’t been the same area each week.

We are obviously doing a few things right, because we are putting ourselves in the position to win games but unfortunately we are failing to close them out. Footy is tough and sometimes that happens.

If you look at our list there have been a lot of guys coming in and out through injury and often they are key players in our squad but we are still fighting games out. Despite what the media are saying I don’t think it’s a lack of fitness or a final quarter ‘fade out’.

Are we under pressure? Absolutely. But there are always external pressures and being in a two-team town they are magnified. The weight of expectation is on our shoulders as it is with West Coast. So far we are not delivering but we are not far off doing so.

A few things have been written about us and, while I don’t pay too much attention to it, I want to clarify a few things. We have always had a psychologist in Neil McLean who handles any problems any of the guys may have and I can assure you there has been no extra or abnormal use of his services.

I read reports this week stating I may spend a bit more time up the ground on Sunday. The truth is I spend 20-50% of my time in the middle anyway and I don’t think I will be playing there any more than that this weekend.

This weekend we will take on Port Adelaide at Subi and it’s a huge clash for both teams. Port started the season a bit like us by playing well and not getting results. They then strung a few together and lost a couple. I expect them to play well and they have a good record over here. Chad Cornes being in the side helps them a lot and if Brett Ebert continues his form then they will be even harder to stop.

As for us, Chris Tarrant has been able to kick a few lately and show his quality. Taz has been given a bit of a hard time lately so to see him come through is great. It also takes some pressure off me. While we’re talking forwards I don’t think Jeff Farmer is far off a huge game either.

The bottom line is the next two weeks are crucial to our season and if we can get wins over Port and then Brisbane at the Gabba we will have a lot more confidence. Nothing beats winning and there are a couple of young guys in Rhys Palmer and Garrick Ibbotson who have been playing awesome footy and deserve the spoils of victory.

When I am playing the Adelaide sides I always get asked if winning means more, but it doesn’t. I am just playing another side I grew up supporting (Adelaide) or not cheering (Port) and that’s how it is.

I’m hoping to see a huge crowd of our very loyal fans on the weekend.

Pav