Alex Pearce has leaned on good mate and former Fremantle Dockers teammate Max Duffy to get a head start on his preparations for the upcoming pre-season.
Duffy, who played three games for Fremantle between 2014 and 2015, is halfway through his debut season as a punter for the University of Kentucky American football team in the South Eastern Conference – a part of the top division in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Pearce visited Duffy during his holiday to North America and trained as a guest at the University of Kentucky’s facility.
“It’s very impressive. Obviously, we have a new facility back home in WA but these ones are exceptional as well,” Pearce said.
“I’ve been continuing my program that I’ve been doing over the off-season, using the outdoor training facility here to run and using the indoor gym to do my weights.
“It’s good to have Max as a kicking partner as well, so I can keep my eye in.”
Pearce will officially commence his pre-season training on Monday with his fellow five-plus year players.
He is most excited about the challenge of going up against Freo’s new forward recruits Jesse Hogan and Rory Lobb on the training track.
“It’s going to be really exciting getting back to the club and meeting a few new faces,” Pearce said.
“Being able to play on the likes of Jesse and Rory in the pre-season is going to be very challenging, so I’m looking forward to that.”
Pearce said he planned to make the most of his visit and learn from a different elite sporting environment.
“It’s a very different set of skills that most of the guys have here that are a lot more explosive,” Pearce said.
“I’m excited to get into the meetings and see how things work, see how all the boys interact, have a look at a few gym sessions and see how big and powerful these guys are.
“If there’s anything I can take away from it, I’ll definitely be doing that.”
Duffy said he tries his best to follow Freo’s games, despite the significant time difference between Perth and the US.
“I have the Watch AFL app, which my brother got me for my birthday, so I’ve been able to watch some games,” Duffy said.
“I keep up to date with the Freo guys, it looks like they’ve recruited well this year and Alex will have another year under his belt, so hopefully he can hold down that centre half-back position.”
In 2017, Duffy moved to Melbourne to train specifically as a punter and is now ranked as the third-best punter in the SEC and 10th nationally.
As well as living his American football dream, Duffy is studying psychology as a part of his scholarship.
While some of his skills from playing Australian football have translated to the American game, Duffy said he’s had to learn a completely new kicking technique.
“I think I’ve gotten better at kicking the American ball and worse at kicking the Sherrin,” Duffy said.
“(The American football) is a little bit different. It’s a little bit more pointy, it’s not as round and there’s definitely a different technique to kicking the spiral kick.
“My AFL background has helped me as we do a lot of roll out drop punts but it’s taken a lot of time to fine tune my technique.”
