This is my first professional AFL pre-season and it’s been very different to what a pre-season would be down at Broadbeach or elsewhere in the NEAFL. So far I’ve enjoyed it and the guys are just sensational so I couldn’t be happier. Physically, the running and the weights are at a very high standard and there’s so many guys at a higher fitness level than me that it pushes me and motivates me to get a better result which is great.
I’ve been rooming with the Green Machine (Josh Green). I’m also in an apartment with Leuey and Blacky. Greeny’s good - he just snores and sleeptalks but other than that he’s pretty good.
Today we woke up at around 5am and went for a bike ride and it was the first time I’ve ever got on a bike like that - they are very very good bikes! I did almost fall off though - they’ve called out “stop” and I didn’t hear and I went flying at about 40,000 km per hour, straight over the kerb, over the footpath, through gravel, through garden. But somehow I held it together and the bike was fine, thank god, because I don’t think Brett Burton would have been too happy with me if I’d wrecked the bike. Oh and I managed to stay alive which was good.
Then we came back and had a swim, followed by some meetings here this morning. I’m finding the meetings good. It’s nothing like I’ve ever experienced before so it’s a learning curve but I’m just trying to take in all the information I can. I know there’s a lot more to expect as the season goes on - match reviews and the like, which I’ve never really done before. It’s pretty exciting.
After lunch we headed out to the Noosa Football Club and played some AFL 9s, and that was good to get out there and get amongst it with the kids. I would say that James Polkinghorne took the game quite seriously - he was everywhere. Rucking, roving, moving it from forward to back by himself. He really took it to another level. Leuey on the other hand wasn’t great. In fact he was terrible. He just stood there for the first half basically. But then Sammy Sheldon put a firecracker up him and he cleaned up his act a bit in the second half.
Then we went to the beach for another swim. Jesse O’Brien was back in there trying to fish in the shallows but he got nothing. Funnily enough, I didn’t see Stakes down there which I’ve learned this week is quite surprising because I hear he loves an opportunity to get his shirt off and whip the camera out.
This week has been great getting to meet my new teammates. I couldn’t pick a better bunch of blokes and they’ve made me feel so welcome. I can’t wait for 2012.
The Lions are spending their first week of pre-season at training camp on the Sunshine Coast. Keep an eye on lions.com.au for all the exclusive news, diairies, and video from Noosa.
