Our coach Leigh Matthews has a favourite saying for young blokes when they come into the club: “It’s later than you think”.
In fact, he doesn’t just use it with the newcomers, he says it to anyone who will listen.
It’s a saying that he inherited from a wise old coach at Hawthorn when Leigh was a player.
It means that you should make the most of every opportunity that comes your way, because you never know when things will finish up.
Even if you are fortunate to have a long career, when the finish line appears, the journey to get there suddenly seems a whole lot shorter.
I must admit it only seems like yesterday when I arrived at the club and made my debut in 2004.
That’s four years ago. Four years gone already.
As a team we’ve had some tough situations since then, but we’ve learnt a lot and I’d like to think are making the most of every moment.
So next time you front up to footy training and don’t really feel like giving it your best shot, think again.
How would you feel if your knee buckled under you and all of a sudden you couldn’t play for the rest of the season or more?
I bet you’d be freaking out.
So don’t look at what some consider as the ‘boring’ parts of football like that – look at them as an opportunity.
Every training session is a chance to improve a part of your game, every match an opportunity to put what you have learnt into action.
Really, it should apply to everything you do.
Give it your best every time, because it is later than you think…
Until next time,
- Jed
