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Encounter with a Shark

By Mr Dandalooa

There’s a lot you can learn about someone over a beer.

Moreover, when that person’s had a few brews, there’s a lot you can learn from them about a whole range of stuff.

I had the pleasure of meeting a young East Fremantle Football Club player over the weekend at a party.

While this player will remain nameless, it gave me an insight into the inner workings of an aspiring AFL player. It gave me some indication as the mindset that might explain how some AFL players can go off the rails.

Now I won’t rant and rave about this, I know I have covered this issue more than enough, but this chance meeting with the youngster shed a little light that made me better understand the situation.

It comes down to people being the product of their environment.

What intrigued me wasn’t the fact that having been described by said player about a gruelling pre-season training regime he was having a few beers. Hey, we’re all Australian, and it was the weekend.

I guess to some degree I was perplexed that a person who obviously feels he has a chance to make the big time was smoking a cigarette. But he was skinny and I figured he was pretty fit.

The thing that stuck in my mind, however, was how he had this overpowering need to party it up, drink hard, have the occasional smoke, but detail to me his grand plan to become a full-time, elite, AFL athlete!

He was certain he’d be drafted one day and everything would fall into place.

Really? Sure he might be skilful at his craft. But this party lifestyle, one I imagine is ingrained in his psyche, one his mates obviously advocate; can that sustain an AFL career?

Granted I haven’t seen this guy play, I think the writing is on the wall when you have a cigarette-toking, beer-skolling player on your team.

If you’re a Sharks fan and said player starts lagging behind other players and can’t keep up the pace, do you call for him to get fit?

Do you blame the coach for his training techniques?

Can you force him to quit smoking and drinking during the season?

Is it the smoking that is causing him to lag behind, or is there something else?

Should supporters be made away of this at all?

I guess the whole point to this column is that he obviously thinks he’s a good player and I don’t doubt that if he is playing for the Sharks, he has skill.

I just found it intriguing that such players who have his mindset, who then go on to the AFL level, still retain that characteristic about themselves.

This would explain, in my mind, how they can sometimes go off the rails. I guess it is facilitated by fame, big money, and all the glory that goes with being an AFL player.

So, to me, there are two types of AFL players: Elite athletes, and normal people like me and you, who are gifted with playing the sport.

And to those of you, who can party it up, live the sort of lifestyle everybody else does but still manage to get a game, kudos to you.