A REINVIGORATED Rick Olarenshaw could return to AFL player management with a "different philosophy" that he believes would fill a hole in the industry.
After tiring of the corporate world, Olarenshaw quietly left his player management role at Essentially in August to take a six-month sabbatical in Bali to reassess his life and formulate his next career move.
In the meantime, a daily routine of surfing and charity work on the Indonesian island has changed his perspective on life.
Olarenshaw, who will turn 41 in February, has also experienced a light-bulb moment in his business thinking.
In a development that will have competitors and former colleagues intrigued, he is confident he could offer players a significant point of difference to other agents.
Olarenshaw refuses to detail the concept, but says he developed it while socialising with AFL players during the offseason.
"There's a lot of players in Bali in October – they're everywhere – and I know a lot of them well enough to stop and have a chat and a Bintang (beer). From talking to them, it seems some players want something different," he told AFL.com.au in a Melbourne café during a pre-Christmas visit.
"It's given me a different philosophy on AFL management. I think it can be done differently to the way I've done it previously myself and different to the way the whole market continues to do it.
"I've got 12 years' experience as an agent and 12 years as a player, and I can see there is a need for players that I don't think is being met at the moment. And I think I can satisfy that need."
Olarenshaw is still yet to confirm whether he will renew his agent accreditation, explaining that he could happily continue to explore his other business interests in Australia and Indonesia, including restaurants, property and a partnership in a financial planning practice.
He plans to relocate permanently to Bali and split his time between the two countries.
He says a decision to again work with players will largely depend on the level of demand for his services.
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Olarenshaw's former clients include Brownlow medalists Adam Cooney and Jason Akermanis, Hawthorn premiership star Brian Lake and former Carlton and Brisbane Lions spearhead Brendan Fevola.
The 1993 Essendon premiership player has maintained strong friendships with Cooney and other ex-clients such as the Suns’ Nathan Bock and the Lions' Andrew Raines.
Even if Olarenshaw was ready to re-launch his management career now, he is prohibited from doing so just yet.
He is on ‘gardening leave’, with a clause in his contract stipulating that he cannot become a competitor of Essentially until at least mid-February.
Olarenshaw isn't in any rush. After all, he is having the time of his life.
He has had a "bug" for Bali ever since he stopped there for a few days on the way back from Essendon's end-of-season trip in South Africa in 1997. The next year he used his power as footy-trip organiser to arrange a longer Balinese holiday.
That 1998 jaunt was Olarenshaw's last with the Bombers. While he was away, he was traded to Collingwood.
Apart from a brief period after the first terrorist bombings in 2002, Olarenshaw has returned to Bali every year, and every few months since 2005.
One of the attractions is the surf, which has become his greatest passion and has acted as an elixir.
Olarenshaw didn't start surfing until his injury-plagued AFL career ended at North Melbourne, his third club, in 2001. He wishes he'd started much earlier.
"Without footy there was a hole in my life, but surfing has almost replaced it," he said. "You get the adrenaline rush and the camaraderie, and it's the most challenging sport I've tried. And it makes you feel great.
"When I finished footy I was knackered – I had a disc bulge in my back, I'd torn my hamstring off the bone, and I was no good for a year or two. But I feel brand new. I'm back to my playing weight and I feel like I could actually play a game of footy.
"When you get in the water, it's like all your stresses are left on the beach. Nothing else matters."
Olarenshaw bought a property at Torquay so he could indulge his obsession, and has even hired a coach, professional surfer Adam Robertson.
In Bali he rises at 5.30am and has a light breakfast before riding his motorbike to one of several surfing spots.
"Surfing makes me happy, so I'm creating a life for myself where I can do it more," he said. "I know guys who love surfing but, because of their jobs, they never surf. And it kills them."
That kind of scenario proved the catalyst for Olarenshaw to establish Surfers In Suits, which connects businessmen who love surfing.
Many members of the group feel an affinity with Bali so they chose the Bali Children Foundation (BCF) – which assists underprivileged kids – as the beneficiary for their fundraising efforts.
Olarenshaw volunteers his time to the BCF as a teacher in Bali's northern villages, helping teenagers with life skills such as goal-setting and decision-making.
"The money we raise goes a long way in Bali," he says.
The youngsters have in turn had a profound effect on Olarenshaw.
"I love working with these kids – they've really changed my perspective on life," he says. "They've got such simple wants and needs but they're so happy, and it's infectious. I've found myself living on more of a needs basis now than a wants basis. Sometimes we focus too much on material things and we forget about what's really important, and what makes us happy."
It's a point that has been reinforced in recent years by the premature deaths of several people Olarenshaw knew.
"Life's short. You've got to chase your dreams. I want to enjoy life to the fullest while I'm still young enough to do certain things," he said.
"I feel I've got a good life balance and I'm super happy. Some people look at my lifestyle and think I'm lazy or I don't take things seriously enough, but this is the life I want."
Olarenshaw is capitalising on the fact that technology has also made the world smaller.
"Some people don't accept it, but I can stay in touch with anyone on Skype, mobile and email. I've caught up with some people this week who never even knew I'd moved to Bali," he said.
Olarenshaw has made some prominent friends outside football.
Balinese actor Kadek Mahardika was a friend long before earning fame as "Ketut" in the AAMI television commercials. They met through a mutual circle of Balinese friends who live in Melbourne. Following the raging success of the first ad, Olarenshaw agreed to represent Mahardika.
"Kadek wasn't even cast to speak in that first ad – he made up those lines himself," Olarenshaw said.
Perhaps Olarenshaw's most famous friend is West Indian cricket great Brian Lara. Asked about the friendship, Olarenshaw says they "just hit it off" when they sat next to each other at a cricket function in London two years ago (when Olarenshaw was Essentially's head of cricket).
When Olarenshaw mentioned he was a huge fan of Caribbean pop star Rihanna, Lara invited his new friend to spend the following week at his Barbados holiday house and attend Rihanna's first concert in her home country.
"Brian was going to introduce me to her but we just kept missing her. One time we missed her by five minutes at a club," he laments.
Olarenshaw also had the pleasure of tagging along with Lara to the 75th birthday of cricket legend Sir Garfield Sobers.
"Ricky O" and "The Prince" will spend more time together in Lara's native Trinidad early in 2014. It will be the Keilor boy's third such holiday with Lara.
Olarenshaw is a confessed cricket tragic who could discuss the game for hours on end, so it's something of a disappointment to him that Lara doesn't talk much cricket.
But Olarenshaw says they don't struggle for topics of conversation. Little wonder, given both have plenty of stories and life experiences to draw upon.
Ricky Olarenshaw and Brian Lara enjoying some down time. Picture: Supplied.
SIX POINTERS with Rick Olarenshaw
What do you like most about football?
"The intensity and speed. It's red-hot from start to finish. That's what makes our game so good. I still think it's the best game in the world."
What don't you like?
"I'm neutral – I've got a soft spot for Essendon but I don't barrack for anyone – but I very rarely go to games now because of some supporters. I don't think they appreciate just how difficult a job the umpires have. I can understand supporters becoming frustrated at times but I get frustrated with the bloke next to me and I go: 'I can't handle this – I'm going home.'"
What would you change about the game?
"It doesn't need to be played with too much – it's in great shape."
Favourite player and why?
"I love watching Stevie Johnson because he's so clever and does some freakish things. He's a great guy as well."
How many operations have you had
"Maybe a dozen. Snapping the hamstring off at the bone was the worst – it basically finished my career. Snapped Achilles, broken ankle. I also had my head stitched up on 14 different occasions."
How will your former club Essendon go next year?
"I'm actually following the progress of three clubs – Essendon for obvious reasons, the Bulldogs because I was fanatical about them as a kid and I've managed Adam Cooney, Jason Akermanis and Brian Lake; and Gold Coast because my family is up there and I'm really close to (list manager) Scott Clayton. I think if Essendon makes the finals it would be a good effort. I've seen how some people close to the club, who I grew up with, have been impacted personally and how much they've aged. I think the Dogs could knock on the door of the eight, and Gold Coast should make the finals."
