This weekend, I’ll be playing my 100th AFL game. It’s gone pretty quickly to be honest. This is just my fifth game for Fremantle, and even though its 100 overall I’m looking forward to the many more to come.
The journey has gone pretty quick, so I am sure I will look back on it once I have finished footy and it’s something I can be proud of.
A lot of people don’t get to reach this milestone, but now I want to play 100 games for Freo. I am only 23, and this is only my sixth season coming up. Hopefully, it’s the start of what’s to come.
I was pretty lucky to play four seasons at Hawthorn where I only missed seven or eight games. I haven’t had any injuries besides one, I guess my body keeps pretty well playing footy. I don’t get too many knocks and bumps and I’m more of a running player and my legs are holding steady at the moment.
The goal, hopefully, is to reach the 250 mark.
Not many people get to 250 games, and 300 is next level. Who wouldn’t like to get to 300? But I feel like 250 is probably somewhere I can see myself getting.
Just look at Stephen, he will get to 200 early next year and he is three years older than me. Hopefully, I can be not too far behind him, although he probably played a bit more than me in his first year.
In the time I spent at Hawthorn, I played 95 games there and was lucky enough to play in three premierships.
I probably never ever thought that would happen in my whole career, and to do it over four seasons - it’s something I don’t think about too much now - but I think I will look back on my career once I finish and think ‘how did I do that?’
It’s something nobody is going to forget especially playing in this modern era. When I first got drafted I thought I wouldn’t be playing much footy in my first few years, and I guess I worked hard and put my head down and I was lucky enough to be a part of that team.
But hopefully I can win one at Freo and make it four, or maybe even more. That’s what I’m looking forward to. I’m still young and I’ve got plenty of footy in me.
A lot of people still think of me as a Hawthorn player. This is my first year here and I’ve only played five games, so it’s not many.
Everyone probably still looks back at the past. So if I can play 100 games for this club, then I will be known as a Freo player.
Just like Sonny, who plays his 100th next week. We had hoped we would be playing in our 100th game together.
Sonny’s has been around for three years more than me and you can see sometimes the road is a bit harder. But the last three or fours years he has been playing fantastic footy and now he is reaching his 100th and I’m sure he wants to get to another 100 for Freo as well.
Footy’s taught me a lot over the past 99 games.
It’s helped me mature going to a footy club and having different players around me, and older players and older people to learn from.
I moved to Melbourne when I was 18 years old and didn’t really know what I was doing. I was still a kid.
I learnt a lot over the years in Melbourne, I was living over there on my own without any family. It was good for me to get out of Perth and move to Melbourne, but I am glad I have moved home now I am a bit older and I’m loving it over here.
Playing footy’s something I wanted to do my whole life and I have been very lucky. I’m still loving the game and hopefully I have many more games left.
