The Watch with Ben Gibson | Brad Green

he's always got the time is that because of his I can't say that he's got a watch zo into his watch it's a great watch but he's always got the Time episode three of the watch is a trip down memory lane as a kid I was asked what do you want to be when you grow up and the answer was simple a left footer tonight I talk to the inspiration behind that Melbourne Champion Brad green greeny it is great to see you firstly thanks very much for your time no doubt a very busy man at the moment you're on the board of the Melbourne footy Club full-time work and 4mon old baby to add to the family uh what's your schedule like at the moment yeah well thanks for having us Ben it's uh it's nice to be out what are we Tuesday at 6:30 so it's yeah it's nice to be up yeah life's busy um as you said you know family life now with with Katie and uh the three boys it's weird to say three boys but uh yeah we've got a a four-month-old um a 14 and 11 so life's pretty busy with with work as well as uh being on the board of the footy Club so it's nice to be out and having a chat with you and the two old boys into foot yet yeah both love the D's obviously they uh passionate D's fans and they have been since you know they were born but uh Oliver my oldest is 14 um really passionate about his foot he loves playing it and but Wilbur the middle he's middle child now not the youngest he's uh he still loves loves the D but he's a soccer man so uh there's potentially uh time for him to play footy but um no he loves his soccer we'll get into your soccer career a little later on that's always an interesting one but you mentioned the board how many hours sort of a week or what's the schedule like for you around that it's a look it's consistent with uh you know a yearly term it's it's certainly a 12 12mon thing um you you probably have a little bit more uh rest rest bite with it over sort of the Christmas break with December January but the footy season's obviously a little bit busier but now with aflw uh with the men's comp and the women's comp sort of inter interwining with each other and they overlap so yeah it is busy I probably spend you know anywhere from 15 20 hours a week with with those and depends on with phone calls and emails and meetings and zooms and uh you know committee meetings and Boards so yeah it does does take up a bit of time but when you're P passionate about something and you know that's why I do it I'm I'm passionate about the Melbourne footy Club they gave uh me an opportunity to be drafted and play Al footy and I just want to give back to the club obviously you spent so long there 13 years 254 games is it something that you always want to stay with no I didn't always want to be a board member is is the answer uh I wanted to stay in footy I think when you're playing ail footy um it's it's great it's it's one of it's is the greatest sport in the world it's it's it's fantastic to be a player run on the MCG as your home ground every week um be a part of a change room and a bond with with what you get with a playing group is is unbelievable and and to feel that and keep that is hard for players when they're moving and transitioning into to post their footy career so um that's where coaching took took me and and still um after coaching finishing finished uh to be a part of the board was sort of that transition to keep involved so yeah it's sort of something that um I've just sort of transitioned you know through um through going through you know post footy but um I really enjoyed the last four years being on it how did you find the initial phase of retirement where you go from playing for the every day you're kicking it nonstop do you keep up the skills do you do you go for a kick do you have a full break you just over it what's that like yeah I was certainly a lot fitter than I was you know what am I coming up 11 12 years ago um 20 end of 2012 I retired so I tried to keep fit when I when I retired I I played a couple of games with um I'm originally being Tasmanian I went back home and played with some mates um at a club called University um down there so for about four or five years I played probably four or five games a year with them I didn't play with anyone else and uh and kept that up by by just playing um those games and I really enjoyed that um and we ended up winning a flag so was my only flag that I won throughout my whole career so I treasure that a little bit with my mates um but yeah I just try and keep fit have a kick with uh the boys but nothing there's nothing too strenuous in my fitness regime so your draft to the club 1999 what's it like back then you see the Professional Standards of footy clubs now entering in that era how did you find it yeah into 99 you know it's uh was sort of the transition into you know part-time into fulltime um I think it basically the transition was about three or four years pre that was um you know the guys were still working they were they were getting doing their weights in the morning they would go to work during the day and then 4:00 or 5 they'd get there and train in the afternoon so long days long hours for those guys but yeah not I turned up in Melbourne and and knowing that you're getting was was the draft process um was the the year that we didn't have a first round draft pick we lost our our first round draft pick to Jeff White salary cap when we uh we did that so um yeah coming into Melbourne um not knowing a lot about the footy Club um being based out of Junction oval um was was a bit strange um moving from tazzy um moving into the host family um and then you know training full-time as your as your profession it it took a little bit of adjustment for this Tasmania but um something that you know I was really passionate about to play a foot and and and wanted to work hard while I was there and and do the utmost to to make make my way in the sport and um and yeah be hopefully a good player what were the facilities like back then at Junction they were interesting they were uh probably they better at North lest than where I got drafted from uh you know you're looking at Junction and literally was we had to carry back in those days you know the ice Mach would break down so the uh 40 was our head of Fitness back then would say bring in a kilo of ice your own ice pass filling up your ice ice bins um it was totally different but it was a footy Club you know it was very professionally run you know Neil Dano as my coach Chris Fagen who coaches brisban now was was an assistant Brian Royal was a very good coach at the time he was there and I think when I first turned up Jimmy Stein Gary lion and Todd viney were part-time assistants so we had you know it was really well run um Danny Corin if you remember Danny um part of the part of the eston uh footy club for a long time was a footy manager at the time so they had a lot of good people um we had a lot of good people and it was really R well-run Club you touched on Neil danur everyone's got a Neil danur spray story has there been a time where he got stuck into you uh I don't think I I might have been one of the good ones um oh he could give a fair spray I I I don't have anything off the top of my head personally that he said to me but it was more he used to give you know a good halftime um uh good spray of you know I've been in a couple of those you know the chain rooms if before the uh the the MCG got um you know cleaned up and and changed that you know the the grand stands got moved around we in the old red seats if you remember the red seats over in the northern stands and and Melbourne and Richmond used to be side by side and we used to come out of those change rooms and um yeah would come up off at a half time a few times and I still remember the a day where all the magnets went flying um and he and spit I think I was sitting at the front and I I felt the spit come over the face and um yeah he could give a good spray but um it was it was interesting the best one I ever heard I reckon was to Daniel Ward were playing at football Park in Adelaide and wardy at the time had to tag Andrew McLoud and I think McLoud had had uh 11 or 12 in the first quarter and wardy was supposed to be tagging and if people out there know a tager they shouldn't be getting that many possessions 11 or 12 in the first in the first quarter and I think a quarter time um I think sour was getting his cars rubbed and he walked up to uh to Wy and goes mccloud's have had 11 and basically B get yeah mate I know I know and then he goes up at tone mccloud's out of 11 and then what he goes yeah then screams in his ear mccloud's at 11 like absolutely screams um and W's gone all red and it was just one of those moments that uh you'll never forget but kept on uh uh he could give the uh the boys a good spray but um yeah he's he's a phenomenal coach I feel like that group has stayed really close as well I remember after the D won the flag in 2021 there was a whole lot of players that got around Neil and there's a real connection every time they they do the drive how tight are you with that group yeah it's it's it's really strange it's it's it's really yeah it is a tight group um you you look through that time and I think it's it's broader than that I reckon Rod grinter who's our president of our past players is he's fantastic he's he's a great networker he gets all the boys around and through that period of 21 when um we everyone was in lockdown we couldn't couldn't communicate we couldn't see each other um balls started these past players um WhatsApp and I think we've now got about 400 players on it and they kept on on going along so rods you know he's he's got to take a lot of credit for that but yeah Neils boys we had a lunch about a month ago um at Lam Maro and there was about 18 guys sitting around around the room and you've got you know David um David NS Anthony McDonald um Paul hop good um Daniel Ward Nathan Brown Andrew Lanell um Anthony Inus Ben Holland um Travis Johnson you know the names that I played with and and and all um probably played most of them played in that 2,000 Grand Final yeah we're all pretty tight um you don't see each other and speak to each other all the time but I don't think I've laughed that hard since I was in the chain room back um you know 15 20 years ago when we were all together and we just sat back and each one told a story um about our time planing with Neil and um there's some Beauties there's some good stories that were told and uh yeah it was great great lunch it's a big effort to stay that connected you talk about the 2000 Grand Final obviously your first season I'm sure you've spoken plenty about some of the earlier finals and your performances there but what was it like as such a young player being thrown straight onto the big stage Grand final day um obviously now we know it was the only chance you had but what was it like as a kid yeah it was weird I wasn't uh I didn't play a lot of footy growing up and I I made my debut round 2 2000 um and literally I reckon that would have been 20 games of alfl footy I've literally played my whole life so it wasn't a lot of footy before I played um my first AFL game um and round 22 uh 2000 we played North Melbourne and if you remember back late 90s um early 2000s North Melbourne were Friday night Kings and so I grew up on Friday nights um sitting by the fire um we laying by the fire and watching North Melbourne play on Friday nights and you remember Wayne car's and David King Anthony Se Glenn Archer um and all of a sudden um I think Neil let me loose about the second quarter cuz back then the bench didn't um get on too often that I'm running out there and I remember the game and I remember walk running out in the ground when I first looking and I reckon I stared at the lights the MCG for the first five minutes and literally going what the hell am I doing out here and then all of a sudden Wayne car's flying past and John Longmire and Anthony Stevens and all these greats that I'd watched on Friday night and North M was super sideb then um and I'm out there and I think [ __ ] I better go out and get a kick now um so yeah 2000 round 2 2000 I made my deut and ended up playing 20 OD games um and then we played in The Grand Final my first year and uh yeah bit surreal it's um you know it's it's pretty hectic Grand Final week and Grand final day so yeah it was pretty proud moment to be able to do that people talk so much about how obviously the Premiership is it's obviously what you strive for in footy but you look back and is there extra frustration that you didn't win one or do with time you you sort of obviously content with the career you've had uh what's that feeling like I think there's still a frustration every Grand final day I look back and go I wish it was me I wish I you know the ultimate is the winning the ultimate success is is lifting the cup up and I never got to do that um I was fortunate enough to play on Grand final day but I I never never won one um and yeah that's there's a frustration with that and um it's not anger it's more that you get a bit sad and uh you get jealous I get jealous come Grand Final to day because I I wanted it so much you train so hard you work so hard and you're passionate about the footy club and um I never got to do that so yeah you get a bit jealous for sure um and you know all the finals I think I ended up playing you know 12 12 odd finals 12 14 finals um and you're striving for that goal all the time so it's yeah it's something that I look back on and go yep I didn't didn't get to do it but um um you know yeah pretty proud in what I achieved over the time did the 2021 Premiership you're obviously still tied to the club did that help I guess feel a bit of a void there like what Pride did that bring you yeah huge Pride because it was uh my first year on the board um and I was thinking well my first year on the board um in my first year that I played AFL fo0 hopefully it's not the same result that we lose it but um yeah it's I think I was just like any supporter um proud of our footy Club proud of us to go over there be away from all our friends and family and to win um you know people say oh it's you haven't won it here but you know it's harder doing it away I think they've had to live away for 12 months they had to play it in Perth they had to go and live over there um and do it away from from all their friends and family and and to be able to pull that off was a enormous Pride I was um I reckon I had few tears and and the greatest thing that I I I tried and explain is that I don't think if you get to do it here which hope we do at the M MCG um and we're all there watching the demons win a flag but I won't experience that time that you have on the couch with your family um to be able to jump on each other cheer and cuddle and do all that because nine times out of 10 we probably don't sit all together um the three boys or there's you know trying to get five or six tickets now and all sit in one area on Grand final day is really hard so it's you know to be able to do that with the family and be so tight and and see everyone's uh passion and and cheering was yeah it was a fantastic night how do you go as a fan now are you obviously you're with the club professionally but is there still that that fandom I'm a shocking Watcher um I hate watching especially being involved but yeah I'm a yeah I'm a fan I'm passionate um and yeah you still get all um you walk past and I go home and I say I say to OE I saw I saw a track today or I saw Clayton or um I spoke to Big Maxi gor um Wilbur you know all those things that you say to your your kids but as we know when you're in their their shoes that it's uh it's nice and they will retire one day and and then they'll be fans of the club so it's um yeah I am a fan I love watching the boys play um and get goosebumps every time we win that's for sure any particular favorite players to watch from coming from someone who has been in their shoes uh I I think I just love them all there's no sort of standout favorites obviously because I played with with Max is a you know to to be to to see Max turn up at the footy club and and to see what he is and what he's achieved now it's been an extraordinary effort um you know he's an extraordinary man and what he's what he's been able to do and get success for our footy Club um to Captain the club to win a flag what is he five six seven all Australians BF winner um you know probably should have won a brown low but you know obviously Rockman don't win it but um yeah he's a tremendous guy and a tremendous person and um I got the utmost Pride um of watching him play there's a lot of stories about goury arriving at the club it was 2009 he was drafted and look he tells a good story you know he gets caught walking to training having a cigarette all these sort of things what was he like as an 18-year-old from your perspective I think it wasn't caught walking I think he was driving down the monach freeway was the story I actually didn't see it but I think James McDonald saw it um but yeah he was he was just a knock back kid he he probably didn't know the the standards that you need to get out to be a professional athlete and um and the and the lifestyle that you have to lead it's hard you can't be just a knocking back kid you are playing professional AFL footy and uh and that that took a bit of time for him I think um but you know he always had his Fitness was exceptional he can run all day still does um so he could always work through that he's worked at his game um you know he's always been a fantastic mark it was probably just his first year or two when I think he had a knee Rico they had to work through um but apart from that he was um he probably turned up and you're thinking you know Ruckman take a little bit of time and I probably thought the same is um is he going to make it but wow has he made it you spoke about obviously your transition from not playing much footy as a junior into jumping straight into the AFL so it was a soccer background from about 15 you went over to England is is that correct Yeah so basically when I was growing up as a kid I I come from a place called Georgetown um in Northern Tas Mania about 50ks north of leston um and in this this this town you know probably a population of about 7,000 people I used to travel up to to Lon lest and Grandma going up on the bus every day um and in that period of of of a kid I was growing up as an only child um and what I did in summer was I played Cricket um and in Winter I was soccer and only because early days my father played footy but he wasn't um or used to go and watch but there was nothing for of five six seven you know 10 year olds to play play games of hoody there's no o kick back then um so back then you could play games of soccer it was like I think seven as side eight aside um so I played soccer and I loved it um and yeah I did I was fortunate after I was playing in the state championships for Tasmania uh I think it was 14s 15s 16s under underage and I was playing in um a national competition in New South Wales um up at Park Ley and they had some talent scouts there that um thought I was I was okay and asked invited me over to to tral at Man United and um I'm looking at him going it's a bit weird um and then it's I thought I was grade 10 and I was I was going into grade 10 it was January so school holidays and I was going to stay there for three months and I thought why not so I went over in January and and TR out with their youth team um and lived and breathed and and did everything as a Youth Academy player and um yeah what an experience that was do you ever think you could have made it in soccer I look back and I I you know a league wasn't around at the time there was probably the national soccer league back then um and you probably think to yourself yeah I probably could have made that level I don't know I don't have any regrets though that I didn't go on with it because what happened after uh Manchester basically what I spent sort of six weeks there and in those six weeks I trained and tri and you know I saw David Beckham I saw skulls I saw Giggs I saw schmeichel um cantar all these Superstars coming in and out and living and breathing this lifestyle and um in the end they sent me down to this place called Wala I think they're in the National or Champions League or div one or something now and they wanted to pick me up um and contract me and that time I'd speaking to my family I've been away 15-year-old been away for 3 months and thinking yeah I might just come home and finish school and and that's when I sort of got got home and I said yeah I'll come back once I finish my school and and take it up you know professionally and really give it a go but that's when I got back and you know footy sort of come and have a kick with my mates and I did that and you know the rest is history really it's funny I've got a highlight ready to show on the screen here what I think was probably your best goal in the AFL I'll ask you first you have one that sticks out in your mind as a a best career goal uh no what no not really but I suppose the one ones that uh stick out to me was I think was the this was was the Colton final I don't know what this one is but the Colton final um was a qualifying Final in 2000 and I think there was one one from the boundary line that you know with 20 odd points down um and I think I ended up kicking three or four in that last quarter and get us home um and put us straight into prelim against North so I I remember those but um I think I know which one you're going to play yeah this one is tapping into your soccer skills so this is Aaron Davey gives you an absolute stinker handall this is an incredible finish so for those that can't see it left foot obviously Left Foot Right on the boundary uh about 15 M it's got no right to go through go post High how do you get that through good question I think I just threw the left boot at it um hoping it was going to go go through you can claim the soccer skills there like yeah well that was the Instinct I suppose just basically you know when I was tumbling o end over end um throwing the boot at and see what happens and hopefully it would hit on the right spot and it did and um yeah I I me meant to do it but uh yeah sometimes I can go sco with and I don't know if the coach would have been too happy which if it went out of bounds in the fall but I had it go anyway are you someone that remembers a lot of your games a lot of your goals obviously there's a lot of cricketers that can remember every score and where they played footy you play a lot of games you have a lot of kicks are you someone that does remember yeah I can remember most um most games but look I think big moments you remember tend to remember rather than you know the general everyday game um and I I think you remember the grounds you play at you know I remember playing the wacka back in the day wavely I played an anet Cup game at wavy um so I think you remember you know Darwin was very hot every time we played up there we had a great win up there one year so I I do remember remember them but yeah sometimes they're bit vague I've got another one for you here it was 14 2003 so I was 6 years old at this stage so I was a Melbourne supporter uh we obviously met during at my time working for the club but you became my favorite player in in 2003 I think I'd gotten a sticker or something in like the paper just beforehand so it was good timing because they were fluctuating the favorite players at this point but then uh it was a come from behind win against Calton at princess Park and and this was the sealer you've just slotted it from 50 I think Deeds were down by 32 points in the third quarter do you remember that game yeah I do um we we played we played a couple of games out at well vizy Park I don't know if it was Princess Park back then but I do remember that game um we used to go all right out there we used to have some good wins but um yeah it was it was uh I used to look I I didn't mind kicking a goal um sometimes I probably over celebrated but uh I think that was my soccer background the celebrations and enjoying and being passionate um about kicking go which I think you got to have a bit of fun with another comeback win is the it's pretty iconic is that freem metal Game 2008 I think it's probably known as the Austin oneir game he kicked I think four in the second half that was a 51o comeback playing games like that what is that experience like oh it's huge and you don't expect to you know when you're at half time and you're probably going in at 30 or 40 points down and um when when you get up from a your big I still remember I think the crowd it was Jimmy Stein and Aussie's Dad I think were is is a famous vision of him um um them hugging and and crying after the game but I remember the last bit of the quarter I think we're all um we're all stuck down in in their their forward end and the ball literally all 36 players and nearly over over the half and uh it comes down and we end up kicking the goal but look they memories that you'll never get back winning those games I think with with all those um the players that you play with is is great I think the best time you could say being a AFL footballer is the first five or 10 minutes you basically you don't to worry about anything you've come off the ground you've played in front of um you know the Melbourne faithful and you get to sit down and embrace and sing the song and then just go and relax and you know it's no beers at the AFL but you just sit back and have a power raid and a pizza and it's I reckon it's the best time of the week to be able to do that do you have a favorite win uh I I always look back at that carton game and say that was one of one of the favorites um you know there's look there's ones that I remember remember some bad losses too um but I think certainly there was one against Brisbane too we had we had a big comeback at the MCG um but I would have to say the qualifying final 2000 um yeah was pretty special I have a a unique memory people think I'm a bit strange that brisban game I just remember Paul Johnson chasing down Justin Sherman on the wing I dare say not many people in Australia remember that moment but for some reason for some reason I do and I think Brad Miller took a mark in the goal Square you justed both fists the the I think that was a good moment but that was prob in the era where the club started losing a lot of games and so do you get a different appreciation for winning at that point for sure because you're not winning you know they're hard to win um you know you're going into most games as the underdog and you're not expected to win and you know I think Brisbane will probably come to the end of their their big run as a side so um yeah we're going into I I reckon it was Dean Bailey er um and certainly it was it was a time where yeah there's hard to come by wins are hard to come by you look now and you know North Melbourne's and the west coast and the Hawthorns um it's tough to win and any anytime you can get a win you got to celebrate and enjoy it because they're they're tough and um when you're when you're trying to climb the ladder it's not easy it was probably a good four-year block for you maybe even five sort of the back end of your career where the club really was struggling how tough was that day toay sort of going into the club becoming off you know 80 90 100 Point losses how do you sort of stay up well you have to be to be a senior player and a leader you got to walk in every day but it but it is tough it's challenging um it's rewarding as I said when you do get a win but yeah it becomes a bit of a grind because because the AFL world you know the metor it's a they're uh they're like little piranhas They they're always um chapping at the at the hills to find a story and get something out of what's wrong and why can't we change and why can't we find um winds and you know what's going on so it can become a lonely place when you're down the bottom um you just got to bond together you got to stick tight you got to stay together um you the only way out of it is by hard work you got to get out in the training track you got to be fit you got to be try and get better with your skills um and it it will change it does change um and you can grow but only way you can do it is by hard work you mentioned becoming a leader you took the captaincy 2011 is that something you thought at the start of your career that you would develop into no I was I was Captain of you know a few junior teams and soccer in cricket and um but no I look you always have aspirations of being a leader and and people look up to you and uh yeah it's nice it's nice to be recognized as as as a club Captain um you know I'm super proud of that um moment to be able to do that for you know the the great history of the Melbourne footy club and you know previous captain Captain you know there's the names of pre previous captains are you know Hall of Famers and legends of of this of this game so it's a uh it's very rewarding uh once once you get that honor um but you know it's only done by through hard work and um you know it's it's not easy either whil we're in that sort of Twilight era of your career the glove developed I I want to know the reason why my guess is probably a trial in darwi when when the club started playing up there and conditions were jewy but you're stuck with it what's the reason behind the well it was probably because of my fingers um I reckon I well the end one was I I deicated one I needed surgery on a finger and I and I had to glue both of them well not glue I had to take both of them together um and I wore a glove um on my was always on my right hand cuz it wasn't on my drop um so being being left footed so I was always on on my right hand and I used to always cut the tips out um which made no sense to anyone and it actually wasn't that grippy like it was it was more it's was a weird thing I got so used to it that when I didn't use it I felt naked if that made sense that I got used to it just wearing a glove and it was part of my part of my kit I I had to I had like 10 in the end spares in my football bag and I just kept wearing a glove um and yeah I did cut the cut the the fingertips out just so I could feel the ball um but as I said it was a part of my kit and if I didn't wear it I did feel nude and it didn't feel right so yeah it was fulltime for the last three or four years I think it makes sense like they're not allowed to now and that's probably because it it does help the last game of footy I played which I was a terrible footballer I played a game in in school footy in year 12 and I wore a glove just cuz why not I don't think I touched the ball but if I had it would have helped like did did you get a bit of bit of Advantage do you feel like uh at certain stages when I was wet no because it was just basically slip and I was a big grippo man so I'd get a big chunk of grippo I don't know if people know out there the grippo is it comes from the bows you know lawn bows where they put it on their ball just so the the lawn bow doesn't get slippery um and grippo is really big in AFL if people want to use it you'll see it stuck on people's jumpers um or on their shorts I used to always put it on my shorts and then rub my hands together and used to come off used to take me hours like I'd still next day have gripo stuck on my hands and that dirty and um so I was a big gripo man and the gloves so I loved my hands being sticky because I always wanted to Mark the ball I knew if I was marking the ball well I'd normally have a decent day playing footy you know I was I wasn't tall but I could Mark for my size being you know 6'1 Tope you know try to play tall and mark the footy so I I found that as an advantage to be able to mark and I wanted to be able to make them sticky to be able to mark you obviously converted a lot of those opportuni 350 goals known for your your left foot is it something you worked on it's pretty obvious you're going to work on it a lot as an AFL player but did you put in extra time dedicating the craft or is it yeah training was was was quite um I was regimented with it I had a routine you know I recommend you know it's probably still one thing that's not great with our game is is goal kicking um and and a lot is fatigue and and mental but I had a routine I I knew where I was you know mostly inside 50 I knew where I had to run I knew I left fo I had an arc um and had my steps counted out and I felt awkward I knew my steps and it be just became normal um so yeah I I basically was a was a was a goal kicker that I was always left goalpost in because I not knew I knew that it would hook around and just draw back in nicely so um yeah I I tried I reckon but towards the end of my career I reckon I got worse that made sense um it doesn't make sense but I reckon I used to think about it more um and the mental side of goal kicking you know 45 be on a 45 degree angle 25 out I think that used to be like a bogey to me towards the end of my career because I used to used to tell myself you just don't miss this and you do you just don't kick the ball the same where you're young um you don't really care about um who's watching you and what does and what ifs you just go out and play um so I reckon it become a little bit harder as it got older but yeah I was naturally um I didn't mind having a shot for goal that for sure who was some of the the most skillful players you think you played alongside H you know the best player I probably played with was David kns um exceptional Talent you know you're looking at could play both ends keep position back keep position forward but as a leader was was fantastic and we always knew if need was on um you know we would be either he would do a crunching tackle hip and shoulder you remember Luke mccab that famous hit that uh big nater did yeah he was the best player I played with you just could reliable Mark the ball go back kick the goal um but you're looking at at skill Adam us Travis Johnson um those types Jeff farmer wow could could the Wizard play so you know played with some talented players um W I played with W in his his brand low year um Jeff white for the for the size of him and Agility U was an except exceptional Ruckman um but yeah those skillful players and then you the longevity of someone like a cam Bruce that would you know the talent that Brucey had was you know exceptional endurance would grind his opponent to the ground um and I reckon it was one year he would have been leading the brown low until he busted his collarbone I think it was Brent Guerrero that smashed his collarbone um so yeah I played with some talented guys and we we got out look we got a lot out of that side between 2006 um but we came up against some teams you look at eston exceptional team Port Adelaide was unbelievable um Brisbane you know when they got the three p and I think in those six years was was sort of a top four team but come up against better teams you speak of neita do you see any comparisons to Jacob van royan he's just signed a four-year contract extension to the end of 2029 is there anything that you can sort of see in yeah there is the you know the ability to jump at a pack and and take a a contested Mark you do see um similar traits it's it's the now for Jacob to get some easy ball and you know get separation and work his opponent to the ground and get up and down um and and do that um is something that he's still going to have to keep working at but I think it's you know key position players just take time and it's hard and just it's uh it doesn't come easy for them but yeah I think it's fantastic for for us to to to to have a a you know Jacob to sign a long-term deal um and there is I reckon he does jump at the ball really well and that Rue when it goes out in the crowd it's uh it's pretty special I've got another random one from your career that I was talking to a mate this morning I said I wanted to talk to you about International rules and he said how the hell do you even remember that he played in international rules but as a unique Sport and it was quite a interesting sort of period that the AFL went over to Ireland and vice versa uh how did you find playing that game yeah I played so I played two games in Ireland and one here in Australia uh 04 I played International series with Gary Lon was the coach so um I think Jimmy was on the on the coach coaching panel back then so um yeah unique so 04 and I think I played 10 and 11 2010 2011 I thought it would come easier being a soccer player going into the sport playing both um but the ability to pick the ball up and kick was still I found quite hard but by the by The End by 2010 201 when I played those two seasons yeah I loved it it was a great game we'd love to see sort of be be a composite game that they still play and you'd love to see both teams or both countries still do it but yeah it's a it's a thing of the past unfortunately I think um Co sort of ruined all that um and financial restra um restrictions of of both countries and leagues and codes so but the game itself was very feisty you know you're looking at two passionate countries isand very passionate about that Sport and playing at Crow Park wow what a stadium it's uh was pretty special playing over there and um you know I watch a bit of gay 40 overtime and um and is it hurling the other sport that they play over there um they're mad they certainly but yeah I I enjoy enjoyed the sport that was for sure the game in 2004 kicked off with a brawl were you out there do you remember that yeah well no I wasn't I was on I was on the bench um but I do remember some scenes um I don't remember who was in the brawl or what happened but I remember flying flying out um and getting there and James herd was receiving death death threats basically back then um so it was at some interesting times over there yeah fasty were the trips good bonding experiences obviously you're with people that aren't your teammates yeah it was it was great that way I I got to got to meet a lot of great people and you know it's it's interesting when you're running out as a teammate versus when you're when they're the opposition and there's some terrific guys that you meet I think most AFL footballers are great guys um we're all wh line fever people that that want to go out there and win for our club and we be we can become idiots um and and people you can be seen that way a little bit as well but to be able to go out over there and and basically play with some of the best players of all time um and you know sit down and have a beer and a chat with them um yeah it's it's it's nice and it's you know it's special and unique um for the game before we wrap things up Tasmania has got an AFL team uh you're a proud Tasmanian thoughts on all that is nice to see yeah very proud Tasmania it's an interesting one it's it's sort of um I think it's taken me a little bit to get I I've always they're very passionate about the AFL footy down there they love it um I've always thought that they deserved it but I wanted to know the the on how they were going to do it um so because I know there's such a divide between Lester and hobot and and if you haven't lived down there you don't know it um and it's hard to explain what the The Divide is but there is a divide but I think the state is is aligned in they're all passionate and they all want it to happen um but there is people down there that don't um so I think they will um and I think it's a perfect spot to have it down in in at Hobart and and at mpoint I think it's a great spot a bit like I went over to gather around and with Adelaide and the way they have really turned the state into a little Hub and you just walk over the the bridge from the city to the ground at adite overs unique and you can do the same thing and in hobar be in salaman for for dinner and have a beer and then walk into the ground at MC point be there in five minutes um will make it really special so yeah I am a proud Tasmanian I hope it gets up um and what labor um liberals got in so they they're the ones that said yes um so I think it will happen last one from me this podcast is called the watch which uh is it's an interesting one obviously people have had to go at my watch for a long time now but it's funny people also always ask why do I wear it on my right hand and I touched on as a six-year-old you became a favorite player and I wanted to be a left footer everything I did I changed at 6 years old to try to be a lefty I worked on my left foot try I I reckon I got it about 5050 left to right didn't win much of the footy so it didn't really matter but I also put my watch on my right hand because well lefties have to wear their watch on the right hand yeah and then we met when I was working at the club and I saw you actually wear your watch on your left hand which was incredibly deplay I thought I've gone through all of this it's too late to change now because you know you get comfortable with everything but um yeah a very interesting story behind the watch which I the podcast called The Watch they go well that's the first time I've heard about that Ben about the watch story anyway but um no i' say yeah I do I've always I've never been a big watch person though um but when I do wear one I I wear it on my right hand ah sorry left hand where the am I going my left hand very deflating greeny really appreciate your time it's it's been great to chat all sorts of random things from your your time in in the footy bubble and looking forward to catching up again soon thanks for having me it's been great