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Brad Smith: Life, Footy and Poker

On Monday (the 7^th) we sat down with Brad Smith from Subiaco to have a chat about his footy career, what he thinks about the '09 season, and what he's up to outside of playing footy.

James: So Brad thanks for taking time out for this interview, we really do appreciate it at the 'Goss and I think the readers will as well. And we're heading into the '09 season now. It was a pretty good season for Subi last year, pretty good season for '07 as well – do you reckon season '09 is gonna be another good one?

Brad: Yeah well I think the competition is going to, you know, the bar has been raised I think. We've got Perth who are gonna come up, probably make the 4 I reckon this year, like they were 2^nd spot last year at some stage and then dropped away. I think Andrew Jarman will get them up and plus with Matty Barber doing their fitness so I think they'll come up. Billy Monahan will improve West Perth as will Tony Micale working alongside David Hynes at East Perth. We thought that maybe, we might [have] our playing stocks drop by 10% just with a few retirees, but they've come back on board, Ali Picket and Chris Hall, so yeah, we're looking in pretty good shape. The guys are under no illusions that if we can do 4 in a row then that's never been done before so that's something motivating for us. We've got a squad that's got a lot of experience and we're hoping, and training really hard, and the boys have all come back from the break in really good nick so we're really excited about this year. We won’t to improve also, Scotty keeps reminding us that teams are on the improve and that they are coming for us, so that really motivates us to train harder.

James: Fantastic, so you're in a pretty good position for the '09 start.

Brad: Yeah. As I said, we haven't gone out and done any recruiting at all. I think Scotty has been quite smart there. We've got some pretty good young guys coming through the 2's. You know Simon White, Matty Virgo, Chris Phelan and Mark Re. These guys are looking for them to step up and take some senior roles. So although we've lost Scoey, Richy and possibly Mark Haynes, we're also going to gain some young enthusiastic players too and that keeps our squad honest.

James: Absolutely, get the rookies in there.

Brad: Yeah, that's right.

James: So, given that in the '08 season you were Footballer of the Year, and you also kicked your in-season century goal there, it must have been a pretty good win for you – the '08 season as a close out, you were pretty happy with that?

Brad: Yeah, yeah very happy. On a personal level I was, yeah, but you know, I don't really play footy for personal awards. I play footy for the awards you can share with your team mates, you know, so I look forward to the 10 year reunion for '04, and '07 and '08 because you can't share your personal medals with anyone else...so that's [what] my motivation for playing footy is, you know, sharing things with your team mates.

James: Very true, it is a team sport.

Brad: Yeah, that's right.

James: Fantastic. So, what was your start in footy then? What was it that got you into the game?

Brad: I had 3 older brothers, and we used to play footy, my Dad used to play footy for West Perth and Geelong...and yeah, when I was a young bloke, all my brothers played and I played with them, and then just started out playing junior footy. And just progressed through the ranks, development squads, colts, state 18's, and yeah, so here I am.

James: So was it always with Subi?

Brad: Yeah it was. I actually grew up barracking for West Perth (unfortunately), I say that because we are rivals now, and my old boy played for them, he determines whether he supports West Perth or the Lions, depends on who wins, but yeah I was living in the Subi zone and I wanted to play with the boys in my area, so, I'm a Subi man through and through, and proud to be a Subi man.

James: Fantastic. And, making the transition to AFL, was that going to be a good thing for you?

Brad: Yeah, I don't regret anything. I was very happy. I was a late bloomer as a player, and also, I think I got drafted as 24 or 25, most players get drafted at 18. So yeah, I sort of went the hard way, and I was very grateful to West Coast for giving me that chance. Unfortunately I had a crack at playing AFL, didn't quite work out for me for whatever reason, and I'll go back and play footy for Subi and love it. So, even thought it didn't happen, I tried my best, didn't work out, move on.

James: Well that's certainly a very humble attitude to have, yeah absolutely. So are there any remaining footy goals that you've got left to “conquer” (if you like)?

Brad: I think I've only got about 12 months left in me too, you know James, so, if I could finish off with a premiership, that's all I want. I want to play every game I can. You know, whether I win the awards or not, doesn't faze me, I just want to win the premiership this year.

James: Excellent, one to top it off with hey?

Brad: Yeah, yeah that's right, it'd be nice to finish off with four.

James: So, any man with a shed knows this as well I think, some projects can consume your whole life – is footy like that for you?

Brad: Yeah, when I actually got delisted, I thought, I'm not sure what I really want to do. You know, I've got a teaching degree, but I didn't really want to go back there. And then I thought, “what do you know, what do you enjoy?” And, I'm a bit of a footy junkie, I like footy, so I thought if I can get a job in footy, you know, I'll love it, I love getting up in the morning, don't mind going to my job. So yeah, I work here for the West Coast Eagles, working for schools, school section, we go out to the schools, promote footy, promote healthy lifestyles, and, for 1 day now I'm doing personal development now to get into coaching, so I've done my level 2 accreditation, I've done some play welfare training, so maybe one day once I get some experience, and once I've finished playing footy, I'd like to get into some area of coaching. Whether that's player development, player welfare, junior coaching – see how it goes, see how I like it, if I do, then I'd like to progress further with it. My job now works really well with my footy, I have a great boss who supports me and gives me a bit of ‘lee-way’ to get to training and that sort of stuff. I think the employer plays an important role in assisting the WAFL footballer.

James: Well I think with the experience you've got that'll work out quite well for you.

Brad: Yeah, I've been through a lot of aspects of footy. From not getting drafted at 18, 19, 21, 22, then to getting drafted, then to having some really bad injuries. And then, also reaching some highs with some premierships at WAFL level and all that sort of stuff. So I know what goes through the minds of young players, senior players, and all that sort of stuff. So I reckon I'll be able to help all sorts of players out.

James: Absolutely, and I think you've got it in you too, yeah. So, given your experience in WAFL on and off the field and AFL as well of course, do you believe that the WAFL points based drafting (trading) rules system that's just been brought in at the end of the last season is an all-over win for the game?

Brad: I can see why they want to do it, but I think it's got a few faults. I think it also limits the ability of the player to maybe go to a club, or if someone from Melbourne or Adelaide comes over here to work, they're restricted to which club they can go to, because only some clubs have only got a certain amount of points to go, so that restricts them. If a player got a transfer from Melbourne to Perth and his office is in Joondalup and wants to play for West Perth, but West Perth may have no points, therefore the might only have the option to go to East Fremantle which is a million miles away from Joondalup. Then he drops out of footy because it’s too hard. There are a few issues there. I am sure they will sort it out. I can see why they want to do it, and that's fair enough too, but time will tell.

James: So, with footy consuming so much of your time here, I hear you've come up with quite an innovative way to help out the game?

Brad: Yeah, myself, my brother, and another guy, have just started up a little business called Perth Poker. It's a little part time business that we run. We've been running for about 6 weeks and we supply gaming facilities for gaming nights at Subiaco Football Club, once a week. So that's taking up a little bit of our time, we enjoy it. I think everyone's a winner, people get to come and play poker in a nice environment at the footy club and the profits to go to the footy club, so we're happy that we can contribute to the footy club, and all the proceeds go into uplifting junior development, so the money goes into fitting out the Colts weights room. We're happy if we can have some sort of input into that, we're rapt, everyone's a winner there.

James: Fantastic, and is this something that you're going to continue on? That's an endeavour that you're going to pursue?

Brad: Yeah, yeah, I mean, as I just said, we've just started up, we've been running for 6 weeks, we do one night a week so far, but you know, we'd like to get it up to 3 and 4 nights a week, you know, if a footy club wants to contact us and we can help them out, and help them raise some money that's for sure.

James: And have you got any other players involved in the games?

Brad: Yeah, we've got a couple of Subi boys who like to come up Blakey Broadhurst, he's a very handy player, he likes taking peoples money, and also Jordan Adamson-Holmes, he loves his poker. A few of the Eagles boys come along to try and win some money, Wira, Dean Cox, Chaddy Fletcher, yeah so those guys have come and had a come on a couple of occasions, and they enjoy their poker also.

James: Well just a final question, in the AFL season here, who are you going to be barracking for this season?

Brad: I'm an Eagles man. They pay my salary mate, so I've got to be an Eagles man. I am anyway. I was a Geelong man at one stage, I spent the first 10 or 11 years in Geelong, but definitely an Eagles man through and through.

James: Well, that'll be the badge on the shirt then won't it. [Brad was wearing his Eagle's staff shirt]

Brad: Yeah that's right.

James: Well thank you very much Brad, thanks for your time.

Brad: No worries.

Through Perth Poker, Brad Smith, his brother Stephen along with Asley Tindall are supplying poker gaming facilities for games that run every Wednesday night at the Subi club rooms from 6pm – midnight. All profits are being donated to the footy club and going towards junior development. For more information
contact Stephen at or call him direct on 0402 712 029. We wish them best of luck in their business endeavour and appreciate the contribution they are making to our footy!