Do you want to know what star full-forward Matthew Lloyd’s cooking specialty is? When he plans to have kids? What it feels like to be living his childhood dream and whom he confides in about his footy? Over the next four days all of these questions will be answered and more when the Engine Room speaks exclusively to the dual Coleman Medallist about life on and off the field.

Q. How is life as a full-forward in the modern game – it seems to be getting tougher and tougher?
A. I think it is. Even though I have kicked a hundred goals for the past two years, after me the next best is probably around the 50-60 mark. Not many guys are kicking big numbers of goals and I think in ten years time, it is going to be a mid-fielders running game even more. All the goals will come from running type players.

Q. The number of players dropping back, you seem to get a lot of friends everytime you play – they all want to stand around Lloydy?
A. If I came back in another lifetime, I probably wouldn’t come back as a full-forward. There aren’t too many dominant forwards in the game, so it just makes your life so much tougher because you get so much attention. I have been able to work through that in the past and I am sure I will be able to for the rest of my career.

Q. Does it frustrate you sometimes the lack of space you have – does it ever occasionally boil over?
A. It does boil over but when I get through the game and I have kicked a bag it gives me a fair bit of satisfaction because I know I have worked through the challenges. It is probably up to us as a team – there are loose guys in our forward line that probably at times, because I do get in guys faces and try and dominant the forward line, they just have to pick options and we will work through that as a team.

Q. It makes for some pretty ugly footy at times – do you ever stand in the goal square and think this must look terrible from the grandstand. I think most people at times in the last few years, they have watched games of footy and thought – what am I doing here?
A. Obviously the Sydney v St.Kilda game was the biggest one I have ever seen. I turned on the game in the third quarter and it was 14 points to 10 points, which was hard to believe. Flooding will turn people away from the footy, but I think in the last month or so, there has been some big scores and hopefully that is the way footy will be played in the future.

Q. I suppose the AFL and co. see it as an entertainment industry, do you run out and think you are there to entertain or are you that focussed on winning games of footy, that the only thing that matters is the four-points?
A. The only one of my problems with footy is – growing up is I loved playing footy and that is all I ever wanted to do and you finally get to your dream and it is like a job for players. We take it so seriously because of the media scrutiny that is on you and what is at stake. As I get older, I am really trying to say to myself, it is all I have wanted to do, so enjoy it!