Featured below is the article run in the Half-time edition of Docker Mag in 2010, highlighting Mick's introduction to AFL football.
MICHAEL BARLOW - ROUND 1 v ADELAIDE
When Michael Barlow walked out onto the middle of Subiaco Oval in round three against Geelong, he knew he had arrived in the big league when Cat captain Cameron Ling went and stood next to him before the first bounce.
To have the reigning premiers send their master stopper to mind a third-gamer spoke volumes about the impact Barlow had made on the AFL in his first two games.
"It was a bit of an eye opener, getting Ling," Barlow said. "In fact, it was a privilege to be on the same field as some of the greatest players to have played the game, like Ablett, Bartel, Selwood and Chapman. To play against them was amazing. It's always good to test yourself against the best."
The following week, against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, Barlow was manned by Saint Clinton Jones, who is as stingy as it gets when it comes to letting his opponent get the ball. With Jones constantly on his hammer, Barlow struggled to wield an influence on the game, but he learned a valuable lesson.
"I found out that he (Jones) was a bit like a glove," Barlow said. "It was a good experience and if I get Jones again I'll look to use alternative tactics to try and find a bit more space against him."
Getting tagged is something Barlow has become familiar with during his football career. He averaged 30 possessions a game for Werribee in the VFL last year, which meant he was often a target for opposition coaches.
Barlow said being a marked player at that level had helped him to not only get used to being tagged, but to improve on his own defensive mechanisms.
"It's a very accountable game these days, especially at AFL level, so you have to have that defensive side to your game or you are not going to make it at that level," he said.
Barlow said playing AFL was only just starting to sink in, but he still pinched himself every day.
"It's starting to become reality, the day-to-day process of being a professional athlete," he said. "It's becoming routine. Still, running out and playing in front of so many people on the big stage is a bit of an eye opener, but I'm gradually getting used to it."
And he has no regrets at not being picked up by an AFL club at an earlier age.
"Everything happens for a reason," he said. "I suppose starting at a younger age might have been a more spoon-fed way to get into the AFL. The way it's worked out for me, it's given me a good perspective to realise how lucky I am. Who would know what would have happened if I was drafted earlier? I'm happy with where I'm at and what's happened."
