Player Column – Ryan Cook Round 18

I WAS blown away when Paul Hasleby first told me I would be captain of the South Fremantle Football Club back in 2012 given I had only been here for one year especially when we still had a lot of good leaders like Craig White, Toby McGrath and Paul Mugambwa.

I hadn’t put much thought into who it would be after Jaymie Graham left and it took me aback a little bit when I found out, but I accepted it and took it on. I was proud of the honour then just as I still am now.

I see a lot of the previous captains around the footy scene every now and then, Marty Atkins being one, he is a great Souths man and has always has given me the time of day. Over the years I’ve asked guys like David Gault to come down and speak to the group, which is always an eventful time as he shares some cracking stories and is always good for a pump up speech. Another old skipper is Toby McGrath who probably spends most of his time when he’s down around the bar, I have a great relationship with him and he is one I rely on in giving me guidance and helping me out along the way. All of these guys along with Jaymie Graham were inspirational captains but more importantly are great people.

Cook focused on team success ahead of breaking captaincy record

Straight away when you come to this club you see the photos of past players around the club rooms and the bar and you want to learn about the history of the place. The best thing I’ve done here is go with the leaders to the life member days. We get an invite to that every year and to have all these greats of the club in the same room is huge and something we really appreciate being invited to.

All those blokes who are life members have that aura about them and you hear the stories they get up and tell, you are just intrigued by it. So I have tried to really soak in the history of the club and the individuals along the way. The best thing about this club is the people past or present that have been involved here. Even the trainers and volunteers who are here, this club is special because of all those people and is a big reason why I think so many players hang around for so long and strive to play as many games as they possibly can.

After that first year when I came here and decided I was staying, reaching the 100 games milestone was something I wanted to do and to get my name on the locker will be special. I reached that earlier this year, then you start looking ahead and think that 150 would be nice but that’s a long way off yet so we will wait and see how the body holds up. These personal achievements are something I think a player looks back on once their career has ended and appreciates more. Right now my mind is firmly focused on helping drive this group to a premiership. It would be extra special to experience that with everyone involved in the club from the coaches and players to the support staff and members.

When I arrived it was at the end of an era where the club had won flags in 2005 and 2009 and a lot of those guys were still here, but most of the boys were coming to the end of their careers. We’ve still got quite a young group a lot of the boys were part of successful colts teams and they are still here which is great. We have played a fair bit of footy together now and know each other’s games really well. We are building towards something now and I do think that next successful era isn’t too far away.