What makes your dad a good bloke?
He is very kind and genuine and an incredibly hard worker who always puts his family first.
What is one of your favourite memories of your dad growing up?
Him coming home after a full day of work and still having time to kick the footy with Glenn (my younger brother) and I.
What’s the best gift you have ever given your dad?
Probably boardies (haha!)… but I did take him to the Brownlow in 2009 and he really enjoyed it.
If your Dad was part of the team, where would he play and which team-mate would he be most similar to?
He was a wingman-midfielder in his early days and played most of his footy there before becoming a defender and eventually getting stuck in the dungeon (full back). I think he and I would have been similar players.
What trait of your dads are you glad you inherited, and which one are you glad you didn’t?
I’m glad I inherited his kind, caring nature. I’m not glad I have his fear of heights… we are both terrible when it comes to heights.
How much of an influence did your Dad have on your footy career?
The greatest. Both my parents gave me fantastic support and put in a lot of effort to take me to games and travel around the countryside.
What is your Father’s Day message to your dad?
Have a fantastic day Dad, put your feet up and enjoy! Thank you for everything.
Wayne Duffield on his son, Paul…
What makes your son a good bloke?
He’s honest, he’s determined and he is really focused in his life. He knows where he wants to go and what he wants to do and you know where you stand with him... And he’s good fun.
What’s the nicest thing he has ever done for you?
He took me to the Brownlow Medal two or three years ago. I grew up listening to the Brownlow count on the radio, following my football heroes and I never thought I would actually get to go to one. It was a very nice thing for him to do. It was one of my highlights and I will look back at that with very fond memories of being able to that with him. I had a great time.
What’s your favourite childhood memory of him?
He would always meet me at the gate when I came home from work with a football under his arm and he did that from a very young age. So I would always try and at least spend 15-20 minutes kicking the ball with him back and forth.
Also, there were lots of times just sitting down having lunch and the chats we would have around the table and the interesting conversations that would come out.
What would you consider to be his greatest achievement in his life to date?
There are a couple of things. He was head boy at Aquinas in Year 12 and captained the school, which was a huge achievement for someone who didn’t go to the school until year 10. To be held in high enough regard by his peers and by the selection panel was a huge achievement.
Certainly playing AFL has been a great achievement of his too. He had to work hard to get there, it didn’t just fall into his lap, he had to go through the Rookie list and do a lot of hard yards and achieving 100 games is just a very good feat.
What trait of yours are you glad he inherited?
Well he got his looks from his mother so I can’t claim that! I suppose people would think I am an honest person. He has probably also inherited my stubborn nature in that If I set my mind to something, I don’t like failing or not achieving it and I would say Paul is a lot similar in that regard.
Oh, and my wife Susan would like to add that we are both very kind.
If his footy career was to come to an end tomorrow, what would you say to him?
Well I said to him before he embarked on it “just give it your best shot”.
If it was to all end tomorrow, he can look himself in the mirror and say “I did as well as I could do” and he should be very proud of that.
Hopefully he will go on after footy and achieve a bit more!
