Goldsack became the fifth player to make his league debut with the Magpies in season 2007 when he took to Telstra Dome for Sunday’s round eight clash with the Bulldogs, following Daniel Nicholls in round two and Brad Dick, Shannon Cox and Alan Toovey in round three.
Taken with the 63rd pick in the 2006 AFL Draft, the Magpies’ fifth selection overall, Goldsack gathered six kicks and six handpasses in an encouraging first-up display playing mainly off half back, and showed signs he has what it takes to establish a career at the elite level.
The athletic Pakenham native, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Tuesday, was taken aback when told by senior coach Mick Malthouse that he would be pulling on the famous black and white stripes for the first time against the Bulldogs.
“Probably for the first time in my life I was speechless,” the energetic Goldsack told collingwoodfc.com.au.
“I was on the massage table, and then Mick brought me to his office, shook my hand and said congratulations you’re debuting this week.
“He just kind of wished me well, that kind of thing, it was pretty full on, I was overwhelmed by it.”
Considered one of the biggest milestones in a footballer’s life, Goldsack’s first league game was always going to generate enormous interest among not only the Magpie supporters, but of course friends and family, and eventually the nerves set in.
“I turned my phone off the day before because I was getting a fair few messages. The Footy Show was on the Thursday night, and when they read the team out at about ten o’clock it was just messages galore.
“It probably hadn’t sunk in for the first day and a half, it wasn’t until about the Saturday that it started to sink in a bit more and I started to get a bit nervous, that was probably as nervous as I was."
Then came the much anticipated day of the game.
“Sunday morning I woke up at about 7:30, I just couldn’t get back to sleep. Once I got to the ground it was pretty good, it just kind of felt normal.
“You train with all the guys during the week, and that’s just how it’s meant to be, so once I got to the ground it was pretty good, and running out was massive.
“You do the on-ground warm-up so you kind of get a bit of a feel for it, but running out and having the big banner in your face, and the crowd’s just screaming, it was pretty overwhelming, it was great."
Some first-gamers get eased into the play, but after a series of impressive outings at Williamstown, the Collingwood coaching staff felt Goldsack was ready and able to start.
“I started on the half back flank, it was pretty weird, I was one of the first players walking down to the backline, it was all surreal,” Goldsack added.
“I remember it clear as day, just every little thing. Running out, the bounce of the ball, running around on Telstra Dome, it was unreal, and then the couple of little mistakes that you make during the game, it feels so much worse than it would at Willy, because everyone’s watching.
“You can’t hear your team mates as well because everyone’s roaring in the background, they say try and zone it out, but it’s impossible not to notice.”
Goldsack has an interesting background in that he is a success story of the rule introduced in the TAC Cup competition last year, where each club was able to select two players who were a year over the Under 18 age limit, to give players who may have encountered some hurdles a chance to impress at the elite junior level.
He was subsequently given a chance by the Gippsland Power, and didn’t disappoint. Not only has he come into the system through an unconventional method, but he also encountered some off-season groin problems which he had to overcome.
“With the groin, it limits your preseason, but I always had it set that I wanted to play this year, that’s just how it was.
“I suppose I’m a year older than the other guys who got drafted, so I didn’t feel like I had to play, I just felt like I needed to kind of play catch up.”
