He supported ... as a kid

[Doss]

James Kelly coming back to Essendon had a nice symmetry to it; he supported us as a kid.

 

[Luv_our_club]

I went to school with an AFL player. One year he won the whole league's best player award and I was there by chance at the ceremony. When I told him I was there and saw him, he asked me about 10 questions about his speech and his response, and what I thought of it, whether he sounded humble. He was not yet 13 years old. I looked at him like he was an exceptional yet strange kid.

Personally I have never understood this. i'd rather play for Hawthorn than win 100 meters gold, world cup, etc.

I think elite talent becomes celebrated and separated from us common folk at a young age, and thus it is not common for them to breathe as much meaning into or gain as much joy from their "team".


If it waz me I wuda bled for ma Hawks!

 

[Jables]

Gibson didn't really make it a secret that he wanted to come here because he was a Hawks fan growing up. For someone that wasn't shy about burning bridges with North, he was probably our most emotional player when it came to team losses/achievements.

Depends on the players personality, I think most give up their old club pretty quickly but there are always exceptions to the rule, probably particularly with clubs they aren't assimilating that well to they start to think how nice it would be playing for their childhood club they supported, it's also not like they have a uniform view of what sport means to them.

 

[ep2018]

Mitch McGovern is a freo supporter and will probably end up there over the off season.

 

[Xenthor]

Are you sure? This generation seems to be the start of the generation that had so much better access to games without needing to go.

Well I'm clearly exaggerating by saying half but quite a few didn't grow up following the AFL. Particularly a lot of the draftees that come from up north

 

[Boxhead_31]

Jeremy Howe is the only example I can think of who moved to another club because he barracked for them.

Really? No one else springs to mind?

 

[wal]

Very few players get the choose to be drafted by the club they grew up supporting. Ben Cousins was one of the few but chose WCE instead? I always wondered if this was his choice and how his life would have turned out if he chose Geelong instead

 

[LeverPuller]

At Melbourne James Harmes is. Jack Grimes was.

All of Buddy, Pendles and Judd apparently supported Melbourne as kids...

 

[mattymac]

Eddie Betts

 

[living_in_syd]

Jesse hogan likes freo

,

 

[HairyO]

Really? No one else springs to mind?

His wife demanded that move. He just packed the bags and surf board.

 

[HairyO]

Very few players get the choose to be drafted by the club they grew up supporting. Ben Cousins was one of the few but chose WCE instead? I always wondered if this was his choice and how his life would have turned out if he chose Geelong instead

Chad Wingard told GWS he would sit out a year if drafted.

 

[avishka5]

Eliot Yeo grew up a docker fan and wanted to go there but apparently freo had too many players like him.

 

[Ron The Bear]

Was a factor in Kane Johnson moving to Richmond.

 

[tropicaltiger]

Jeremy Howe is the only example I can think of who moved to another club because he barracked for them.

Kane Johnson = 1 eyed tiger

 

[tropicaltiger]

true story and this has been mentioned by many old tiger fans... that wayne harmes was as mad a tige as could be, before, DURING and after his playing days, even when a bluebagger as long as he played well still wanted richmond to beat their arch enemy.

 

[TheFVK]

Nice thread. Seems to work for some, Jared Polec even went so far as to pretend he was considering the Crows before tweeting pics of him training at Alberton #trollec

Others, not so much

 

[Bluelegs]

Jesse hogan likes freo

,

Barracked for Adelaide as a kid.

 

[Mr Magic]

Dangerfield?

Kane Johnson is an obvious one in terms of the link

 

[Cmarsh]

Cam McCarthy supported Freo

 

[PieLebo87]

They all seem to be NBA fans. Coincides with the large average player height increase that has occurred in the last 15 years I guess.

If I start following NBA, will I be taller?

 

[JPetro83]

Kane Johnson back in the day was a mad Richmond fan, played in 2 flags with the crows then at the end of 2002 he wanted to play for Richmond.. even though he had a crows premiership tat on his leg
He said in his interview when he got traded "Even though I was playing with the crows I was still keeping a close eye in the Tigers when they played"

 

[Sherrinator]

If I start following NBA, will I be taller?

No but if you were tall and gangly to begin with, you would probably have picked a sport that represented your physical attributes. Hence why we have so many "athletes" playing now. Clubs pick up basketballers etc only due to stature.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

You're talking about decisions that are worth 500k+.

Think about how many decisions of that size are influenced by what you liked as a kid.

The answer should be none unless you're bad at making big decisions.

 

[PieLebo87]

No but if you were tall and gangly to begin with, you would probably have picked a sport that represented your physical attributes. Hence why we have so many "athletes" playing now. Clubs pick up basketballers etc only due to stature.

I should've been into horse racing and jockies