Q. What helps you deal with the pressure – because there is so much pressure on you players each week?
A. There is only four or five people that I really have confidence in to really talk to them about what I am feeling with my footy. Sometimes I can come off the ground feeling I have done okay kicking four goals but to other people maybe they don’t look and see the ones you have given off. It does get you down sometimes but I suppose we get paid very well these days so they are just things you have to put up with.
Q. Do you feel under more pressure if the team is not winning and you are kicking goals – when does the pressure really peak for you?
A. The worst I have probably coped with things was going through a bit of a rut leading up to my first 100. I went up to Sydney and I spoke to Plugger. He was fantastic and helped me through it. There are times where I have had to work through my kicking for goal and I have had to work through that and you feel the pressure from outside. Probably having injuries is hard because you want to do things but your body just won’t let you, so it can be frustrating.
Q. Has it ever got to the stage where you have thought I am just not enjoying footy. Are there times where you think – I would rather be doing something else?
A. Sometimes I am driving to a match and I see people just strolling in the park and I am as tense as anything and I think – geez it wouldn’t be bad just going for a lazy stroll and not having 80,000 watching me and every move I make. I quickly snap out of that because it is so many peoples dream that we are living and I am worried that my career will come to an end and I haven’t enjoyed it. I always tell myself to do things for now and do as much as you can to hopefully go down as a great player of the competition.
Q. Do you speak to Sheeds a lot about the pressure of footy. Is he one of those five people you talk to or are they away from the club?
A. Probably Sheeds is so flat out and full-on as it is, Mark Harvey is a guy who I find really approachable and he is a guy I tell a fair bit to that I wouldn’t tell to a lot of other people and even your family sometimes. You just need people that you know it won’t leave that room. There is probably not that many people with me. It is amazing growing up – I just thought you played footy, I didn’t know everything that came with it. Probably being a full-forward – in a glamour position – my life has changed and where you decide to go. Apart from family and obviously my fiancée, Harvs is probably the next person I go to.
Q. You seem to cope with it well. Most people from the outside would think you are pretty relaxed, but this is not always the case?
A. I am a pretty tense person. I am the type – I think it is a good thing – I have a fear of failure. Having one bad game, I am already thinking of VFL footy. I put myself under a lot of pressure – I am pretty good at not worrying about the pressure that comes from other people but I probably do set high goals for myself.
