Star Fremantle midfielder David Mundy is determined to make the most of the mandated leave period and is as motivated as ever to play football in 2020.
The 316-game veteran was set to return early in the season from a fibula fracture, but the suspension of the season due to the Covid-19 crisis has put his 16th AFL season on hold for now.
“I’m feeling a little bit rattled at the moment. I had playing in the back of my mind, it was getting a bit more central and more to the front of my mind,” Mundy said.
“I guess this gives myself and the other rehab guys coming back more time to be even more prepared, but our messaging and our thoughts are the same as our entire group.
“We want to treat this period as a bit of extra time to get some things right and come back better people and better players.”
Due to the unknown nature of the crisis, Mundy said he had countless conversations at home about what it might mean for his career.
Now the players have a return date for training, currently set for early May, Mundy feels he has something to work towards.
“It’s something that my wife and I have been talking about, it feels like constantly for the past few weeks,” Mundy said.
“(Monday’s player meeting) was a really good to get a little bit more information and set the parameters for our immediate future and what we need to do and where the timeline sits.
“With that information, we can go about what we need to do.
“I’m certainly preparing (to play football this year).”
Mundy said all the players would continue to train individually and in groups of two to keep up their kicking and marking training.
He added that it was important to do so while setting and example.
“This time is to go away and really improve in some area while adhering to all the federal government social distancing advice and take as best care of yourself and your family as you can,” Mundy said.
“We are strong role models in the community so that doesn’t go away, we need to continue that and come back, whenever that may be, ready to go.
“We’ll be diligent in those measures and personal hygiene, wiping the footballs, cleaning hands and things like that.
“Obviously, it’s going to take a lot of individual drive and motivation to complete but we’ve done a lot of work in our group, our culture and environment here, so we’re fully confident that this will translate into each individual’s own world.”