Last week it was revealed that the Eagles had been communicating with Naitanui via an iPhone sewn into his jumper during match simulation in the pre-season.
“I replaced my GPS pouch with an iPhone. [Dean Cox] was injured for a bit over the pre-season and he and [ruck coach] Simon Eastaugh, and sometimes our development coaches as well, would sit in the stands.,” Naitanui told afl.com.au.
“It was only during match simulation drills they would talk to me through the phone. They’d tell me where to position myself after a contest and where to run, just focussing on those patterns.
“At times it was useful but at other times it was pretty frustrating as well.”
The 19-year-old said he was not using the phone for GPS data or for any special applications, just direct communication from Cox and Eastaugh.
“It was just a straight phone call, just trying something out. There have been a few different things we’ve trialled over the past year and a bit. That’s just another one they were giving a go to see if it helps. I found it pretty useful,” he said.
But Naitanui admitted having an earpiece connected while playing football would not be to everyone’s liking.
“We had other players like Will Sullivan who was rucking and he didn’t really want to do it too much,” he said.
“Some players may find it beneficial but to have an elite ruckman like Coxy watching you and helping you know where to run and how to get to the footy.
"I found it was pretty helpful. Maybe clubs could use it down the track.”
The training revelation was not the first time Naitanui was in the news for using phones this year, after he and Cox were caught on camera at the three-quarter time break of the recent game against North Melbourne.
He was speaking to Eastaugh who was back home in Perth, a conversation for which the Eagles were subsequently fined $5000.
“He (Eastaugh) was doing his coaching role. He has got young kids at home so he can’t really travel on the away trips. He normally calls us before the game and I had the phone during the quarter-time breaks,” Naitanui said.
“We were talking about our positioning and how we were approaching centre bounces. It was pretty funny when I saw it back on the TV. I don’t think we’ll be doing that again, unless we want to start paying."
