“I'm thinking it's because I play for Essendon but it always comes back tome that I look like Nick Riewoldt, so I'm going to try and break that tagthis year by playing well for Essendon and then people will startrecognising Adam McPhee, not Nick Riewoldt.”
The 20-year-old was flabbergasted the first time he set foot near WindyHill, admiring in wonderment the club's amazing history. Straight away he knew the difference in cultures between Essendon and Fremantle. “The first impression was probably looking on the floor and seeing all the brick paving, all these names of great players like Dick Reynolds and players in the calibre of him,” he said. “That's the major difference, the history of the club and what surrounds you.” The Dockers are a relatively new club still finding their feet while the Bombers are well established - one of the reasons McPhee returned to his home state.
The youngster hopes a change of environment can bring out the best in himand eventually transform the small defender into a running midfielder, arole he is looking to take on following chats with the team's experiencedplayers. “The major difference is probably the older experienced players and theplayers (who) have achieved some really high goals like grand finals andguys have won Brownlow Medals,” he said. “At Freo it was mainly young players learning the game and coming up.”
Essendon suffered during the trade period, having to let go of experiencedperformers Justin Blumfield, Blake Caracella and Chris Heffernan toopposition clubs, severely short-handing them in the midfield. Bomber fans will be looking for the new recruits to step up quickly, especially the likes of McPhee and Damian Cupido from the Brisbane Lions who were acquired during the frenzied trade period.
McPhee is pleading with fans to not make comparisons with the outgoingplayers or they could be disappointed. “I hope there isn't added pressure on us, because we're obviously not as talented as the other players were, just yet,” he admitted.“If we look back when they just started, they were the same as us and theyhave gotten a lot better ... We'll do our best to fill in and help out theteam in winning games.”
The 2001 Rising Star nominee can't wait for the regular season to start. “My body is fit, now it's just a matter of mentally knowing I'm ready, getting positions right in ruck clearances and all the footy sort of stuff.”
Article courtesy of Lance Jenkinson, Community News.
