You've played the second most consecutive games in AFL history, from 1997-07, considering you've spent such an extended period at the top, can you describe how the past two seasons been for you with injury and form?
You've got to take things into perspective. I was really lucky to play so many games in a row – I didn't have any long-term or any short-term injuries in that time, so it was amazingly lucky. Last year was frustrating because I got injured, but this year is due to totally different circumstances.
Do you think you are going to get the recognition you deserve from Melbourne people for what outstanding contributions to the club in the long run?
That's not up for me to decide. I've given my all for the club and the supporters -- the fans can take it how they want. I've always said when I finish footy, I want to look back and know that I've given it everything. No matter what happens, I can say I've given everything to the club and the jumper – it doesn't really worry me what other people think.
Coach Dean Bailey has mentioned in media conferences this year that your work with the younger players at the club and at Sandringham has been impressive. But that may not be any consolation to you. Is that how you feel?
Exactly. I play footy for the Melbourne footy club, so I want to be wearing our jumper every week. If, as the case is, I'm not, then I'm not going to go down to Sandy and sulk and drag my head around.
What has been some of the things you have done with the younger players at Melbourne this season?
Things like making sure they have the right attitude. A lot of players, whether they're like myself or 22 years old, think that they should be getting a game. But you've got to make sure you've got the right attitude at Sandy, because Sandy is a great footy club to play for and their players can actually sense if you're not going there for the right reasons. It's not the way you want to embrace their club and their players. Once you put a Sandy jumper on, you've got to play their way and with different guys, so just reinforcing that message to our players. Addam Maric got dropped to the Sandy reserves the other week, so I took him aside and gave him a few little pointers about how he should go about trying to get back in. He then played really well and came straight back in, so that was pretty rewarding.
You were brought back into the leadership group for the start of this season, but were recently left out of it. How did you feel about that?
It's all about a voting system now, the way we're doing it with Leading Teams, so to actually get voted back in after not playing much last year, I was actually really proud of. I hung around last year after my operation and really tried to help out the forward line group, so whether it was that or other things I'd done in the pre-season – it gave me a bit of a reward. Then we had the review at the half-way mark and I'd only played one game, so it was just natural players were going to vote for guys out on the field, which for the future of the club is not based around me or 'Neita' [David Neitz] or guys like that anymore. They've got to start pushing some guys up and the players know that and it's good to see some younger guys coming through.
What have been the proudest moments of your career?
Playing in the 2000 Grand Final – although it was a disappointing result – just getting there and being part of the club and actually being so close was amazing, and all of the finals you play are great. Individually, the top five best-and-fairest placings – I've always strived to be in the top five – and the All-Australian selection was something I would've never dreamt of as a kid. As a team, we've achieved a fair bit without winning the big one -- that's what you play for, but hopefully the club can get back up there.
Post footy, what are looking to get into? Would you like to stay in the game?
I've got a labour hire/job recruitment company and linked onto that is a traffic management company, which I bought into with my cousin about a year-and-a-half ago. I'm trying to do a little bit for that. If I'm not playing AFL footy next year, I'll be able to have a good crack at that. But I really want to keep playing footy, no matter what level. In terms of coaching, I don't know whether it'd be assistant coaching, but I love the development side of things. I've had a few chats here and there with guys and some ex-players about how they've gone about it, so that might be something I look into as well.
