It wasn’t easy moving from North Melbourne. I had developed a lot of friendships and memories at the Roos over the five years I had been at the Club, but I am excited about what lies ahead.
It is never easy for a player to change clubs and I didn’t really put myself on the market. I honestly didn’t have any intentions of leaving North Melbourne. I was out of contract and wasn’t shopping myself around or anything like that.
The Hawks approached me at the end of the season with an opportunity and I felt that with what they presented to me, I could really help the club on their journey back to the finals. I thought they were going to help get the best out of me and that is how the decision was made.
The Kangaroos gave me a chance to start my AFL career and I am very grateful for that. All my football memories over the past five years have involved North Melbourne. But I have started a new journey now and I can’t wait to run out in the brown and gold.
Luckily I knew a few of my new teammates already. I played with Stephen Gilham in Under 18s and Campbell Brown is also an Oakleigh boy. He went to Scotch College and I went to Trinity so I knew him from back then.
I also played with Trent Croad’s younger brother Cam so there was a link there too. Plus my old teammate Adam Simpson came over at the same time as an assistant with Hawthorn. I played a lot of footy with Simmo and I’d like to think we’ve made the transition easier for each other.
That said I felt like I was starting high school all over again. I didn’t know that many people but I’ve just returned from my first ‘school camp’ and I feel much closer to the boys now.
Last week I returned from the Kokoda track, where I joined a bunch of my new teammates and club staff. It was a thoroughly rewarding journey that has definitely fast tracked my relationships with the people at my new club and it has definitely given me a new sense of perspective on our nation’s history.
Kokoda was one of the most significant battles in Australia’s history and for us to live the lives we do today had a lot to do with those blokes who fought back in 1942 in Kokoda. I’m surprised we don’t learn more about it at school. Most people would know about Gallipoli but the way the soldiers fought back at Kokoda to allow Australia to be what it is today, is truly remarkable. That was a massive part of the trip for me. I was amazed because I went in knowing nothing about Kokoda, and came out with a new sense of pride, of what others had sacrificed for their country.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
