Unlike most youngsters in Australia, Sam Fisher did not grow up dreaming of becoming and AFL star. With golf as his chosen sport, Fisher had his eyes set on playing at Augusta rather than running out onto the MCG.

“Originally I moved from Barmera (country SA) to Adelaide to pursue my golf career. However under the circumstances, I think I might have got a little bit burnt out with the golf. The passion started to fall away slightly.”

Getting back into playing football at a local level, Fisher had no idea that two years later he would be drafted to the AFL.

“I went back to footy just to have a kick with some of my mates and two years later I was drafted.”

“Getting drafted to the AFL was not my plan at all and I basically was just trying to do something different from golf.”

“It was probably later in my second year at West Adelaide that I heard a couple of Clubs were interested in me, so I went to the state screenings of the pre-season draft. Obviously, from there I thought I might have had a slight chance, but even coming into the draft day I had no idea what the outcome would be.”

With football now his number one passion, Fisher still gets out on the golf course and enjoys some healthy competition with teammate, Brendon Goddard.

“I still try to get out and play golf as much as possible, but when the season starts it is hard to find a lot of time.”

“BJ and I have a good competition, although he’s probably got me lately as he plays a bit more than me. But we both sit on a handicap of around 2.”

Spending his seven year career as a defender for the Saints, Fisher has been given a new role at times this season, when Ross Lyon has given him a run in the forward line. Although admitting it is not where he feels most comfortable, Fisher admits he is happy to be able to try something new.

With regards to playing up forward, Fisher said; “The more I do it, the more comfortable I will get with it. If I am able to get a few more opportunities in the forward line then I’m sure I’ll grow into it more.”

“Originally I played as a forward, but I haven’t played up forward for my seven years in the AFL. But it is good to try something different and play a different role for the team.”

After kicking the match winner in the Saints Round 6 game against the Western Bulldogs, Sam Fisher is still modest about his 15th AFL goal.

“It was an amazing feeling. At the time I was just happy it managed to put us in front but there was still a few minutes to go in the game, so I had to focus on what we had to do for the last couple of minutes to make sure we didn’t surrender the lead.”

Known for his consistency in the side, preparation is vital for Sam before every game.

“I really just try to focus on preparation each week, training to the best of my ability and not wasting any session. Obviously if you train and prepare the best you can it holds you in good stead and gives you the confidence to do it in the game.”

“Once you’ve learnt what you need to do to play a good game you know what you need to do each week and can keep the same routine.”

Reflecting on Monday night’s match against Carlton, Fisher said; “It was the first time in a long time that our effort dropped away in a match. We’ve been giving extreme effort for the past 18months, and even in the games we had lost, we were still in the game for the most part.”

“For our effort to drop away it was definitely disappointing, and Monday night showed that when you do let that happen it doesn’t take long for the other teams to catch up. So we need to get back on our bikes and have a good look as to why we think this has happened to turn it around for this week.”

Sam and the rest of the boys are now ready to move on from Monday and have changed their focus to Round 8, where Essendon lie waiting for them.

“We imagine Essendon to play similar to the way Carlton played on Monday night. I have no doubt they have all watched our game and noted how the Blues were able to get on top of us, so are likely to adopt similar patterns and tactics for Round 8.”

“We’ll sit down and do our homework to make sure we have all our bases covered, and we’ll be ready for them.”


Make sure you’re there to watch Sam and the boys take on Essendon on Sunday afternoon, 4:40pm at Etihad Stadium. Please click here for ticketing details.

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