I’VE played a few games now but I’m still looking for my own seat on the bus.
It’s an issue, where you sit. On our team bus, most guys have their own spot, and it’s best if you don’t make the mistake of sitting there when you’re a new guy.
It’s not just the team bus. The same thing applies to the meeting room, and it’s well known that when Lewis Johnston first came here late in 2008, he sat in Barry Hall’s seat in one of the meeting rooms! On the bus, guys have their own seat from the airport to the hotel, from the hotel to the ground and so on…
Unfortunately for me I don’t have a spot yet and Craig Bolton told me I’ve been sitting in Seabs’ seat (Mark Seaby), so I don’t know what I’ll do when he returns from his broken foot. Bolts says I should just try to stamp my name on it now.
Gary Rohan has played fewer games than me but he reckons he’s got his own seat, which is pretty much rubbish.
New guys like Daniel Bradshaw and Shane Mumford get a bit more leniency, in fact Mummy and Braddy just sit wherever they want to sit. They are not only respected, but no-one’s going to argue with guys that have huge arms like they both do.
The guys love setting up the new guys for a laugh. Last year, round one against the Saints after I’d just been drafted, I went to watch the game at Etihad Stadium. Before it, I texted Patty Veszpremi to ask what we had to wear. He texted back saying we had to wear a club suit, so I turned up in that.
Of course we really only had to wear out tracksuit and polo, so even though we lost the game to the Saints, the boys got a laugh out of me wearing my club suit, so I was pretty happy I got the boys up.
You’d think I might have helped out the boys who got drafted last year, but I gave them no tips at all really. For example…when we were going on our Christmas break-up gathering, I told Gary that he had to wear his Swans polo shirt. We share a house together, so I left home wearing my polo as well.
When we arrived, I told Gary I had to go into the bank and I said I’d meet him in the restaurant with the other guys. As soon as he walked in with his Swans kit on, everyone laughed at him so he had to go out and buy another t-shirt to wear that day!
Some people might think the hierarchy is a bit tough on young players, but I don’t agree. I don’t mind where I sit, or whether I’m last in line to get a massage before a game.
The senior guys have earned that respect and position over a long period of time.
As young guys we are trying to get there…and in the meantime we’ll give them a bit of crap back! But they’ve been there a lot longer than us and done a lot more than us, so they deserve to sit wherever they want…
