Sam Switkowski navigated a tough road to make his AFL debut this year.
The mature-age rookie was overlooked in three national drafts before being picked by Fremantle in 2017, only to battle a recurring hamstring injury during his debut year.
But as Switkowski reflects on his first year, he can see the silver lining to his time on the sidelines.
He said the long journey to his AFL debut has humbled him, and given him a mature perspective on his career.
“Just having those few extra years playing state league footy, growing up a bit and maturing certainly made a difference,” Switkowski said.
“I think you’re just a bit more grateful for the opportunity and you see what life is like without it, working part time jobs and all that sort of stuff.”
Switkowski is also studying environmental engineering, and said the years it took to make an AFL list means he is ahead with his study.
“I study environmental engineering at uni, I’m in my fourth year so I actually managed to get a lot of it done before I came here,” Switkowski said.
This time last year, Switkowski was going through his fourth national draft.
After years of being overlooked, the Box Hill Hawks product said he didn’t have any expectations going into the 2017 draft.
“I didn’t really have too many expectations of getting picked up at the time, I’d missed a few drafts so missing out became the normal thing,” Switkowski said.
“Then to hear my name be called out at pick 73 was a huge moment and mixture of emotions, a bit of relief and certainly excitement.”
Switkowski spent most of the year playing for Peel, giving him time to develop into his role as a small forward and push towards senior selection.
His hard work finally paid off in round 21, and he was able to celebrate his long awaited debut with loyal friends and family who travelled across from Victoria to see him play.
“It was a special day, I think I had about 14 mates come over, my family as well, I only expected a few of them to come but they all jumped on the bandwagon which was good,” Switkowski said.
“We had a good win against Carlton and it was just made even better to share the moment with them.
