Googs' Gabble – Adam Guglielmana column July 18

FOOTBALL in country WA is more than a game; it is a way of life for a lot of people. It brings families, neighbours and communities together. For many a small community in country WA the atmosphere of the whole town can be determined by two hours of football on the weekend.

Growing up in Carnarvon, about 900kms north of Perth, I experienced this first hand. My family were (and some still are) heavily involved in the Ramblers Football Club, a club where I played most of my junior football. 

In 2004 I moved to Geraldton to go to boarding school and played for St Pat’s football club in the under 16s and then colts and seniors for the Brigades Football Club. Both were great clubs and were important for my football development. Firstly, playing against kids my own age for the first time and then playing against grown men the next year. 

Playing country footy as a junior can be advantageous for a number of reasons. There are no real structures involved, or recruiters watching every game and this allows a youngster to develop their own flair and confidence in their game without external pressure. Although it can be daunting playing against fully grown men, the focus of teammates and coaches to protect the younger players allows them to play without fear.

South Fremantle has worked hard to create a pathway for country footballers to settle into the city life and contribute to the success of the club. They are constantly inviting country players to participate in carnivals, pre-season and the Warriors squad, and this form of development is starting to pay dividends with Warrick Andreoli recently drafted and Thomas Vandeleur a good chance this year. Both are products of the South Fremantle country junior system. 

At South Fremantle we have a tight knit group of country boys. That’s not to say there are divisions between the country and city players, but the boys from outside of Perth are definitely drawn to each other. I think we share the same sort of values and have similar interests outside of football like fishing and camping, and also empathise with new players living away from home and family.

The hardest thing about moving away from home is trying to fit into a new regime. Cooking and cleaning for yourself can be an eye opener, and the demands of work and football can leave you exhausted. Time management is the hardest adjustment, trying to find the balance between work, football and socialising can be hard, with socialising not always being the third priority initially. 

There are many differences in country and city football with the most obvious being the attitude towards preparation. 

Country teams generally only train a couple of nights a week and pre-season starts a lot later. Speaking to an old friend earlier in the year he told me he was worried the team would burn out by mid-season as they had started training in January. I didn’t have the heart to explain we had already been training for three months by then!

It was not uncommon to see a number of players outside the change rooms before the game, and at half-time, having a smoke and I still remember getting a bad cork one day where I tried to put ice on it after the game but was quickly told not to be soft and that ice is for keeping the beer cold!

In a lot of ways WAFL football has become what country football used to be. With the advent of strong West Australian AFL teams and the seemingly infinite amount of cash on offer for players in the country, WAFL clubs have found it hard to retain players in recent times. It’s understandable that players leave with the amount of money on offer, and the massively reduced time commitments of modern country football, I don’t think anyone begrudges them of that. 

What it does leave is a unique type of person that pulls on a WAFL guernsey every week. In the current environment only the most committed and driven individuals have long and distinguished careers. It takes an abnormal person to front up to pre-season in the blistering summer months to train four or five times a week, after work or study, year after year. I think the football public can sometimes lose sight of this. A number of former and current AFL players have said that the WAFL lifestyle is much harder than the AFL lifestyle, due to the work/football balance.

The reason WAFL football is so appealing to many prospective country players is the challenges it holds. Firstly just to see if you can make it through a pre-season, and then to test yourself against very good opposition and see where you fit in. South Fremantle has a proud history of successful country players and once you feel you have been accepted into the club you feel an obligation to contribute and add to the success of those gone before you. 

Even with the hardships of WAFL footy all of the players take tremendous pride in pulling on a South Fremantle guernsey every week. I think the supporters can see that, and as long as we keep working hard and remain committed, on-field success will come. 

By Adam Guglielmana