IT WAS eight years ago when Sam Durdin was about to attack his first full season as an AFL footballer. 

But it was one year ago when he was on a job site back in South Australia.

Have you heard the one about life going full circle? Or a year being a long time in football? This is one of those.

It was 9 January 2022 when he was working as a site manager for Partek Constructions (Durdin: “I’ll give them a plug”), building a soccer facility. On 9 January 2023, he was back to work at IKON Park, joined by his teammates for the first training session of the new year.

“It was pretty hectic, actually,” Durdin said while reminiscing on his life 12 months ago.

“I did some big days and was working through some tough challenges on-site. It’s a completely different world now.

“If you said this time last year that in 12 month’s time, I was going to be training at Carlton and getting ready for a big season, I would’ve laughed at you.”

Durdin - who brought his Glenelg nickname of ‘Nige’ over to Carlton, thanks to his Nigel Thornberry likeness - was immersed in a lifestyle consistent with that of your typical state-league player: work during the day, train at night.

Fronting up for Glenelg after the initial disappointment of being delisted by North Melbourne at the end of 2020, there was always the end goal of getting back onto an AFL list — but its likelihood was a completely different story.

For Durdin, who was a first-round draft pick back at the end of 2014, the long days weren’t without their struggles.

“It was generally working on-site on weekdays and the occasional Saturday, and then train at Glenelg three times a week. You do some big days out in the heat on-site, and then you get to training and look forward to some 10-km plus sessions,” he said.

“Physically, I was pretty knackered. That’s not to say footy now doesn’t tire me out, but those longer days in Adelaide took its toll.”

He admits he’s a much different Sam Durdin now to the one that was drafted over eight years ago. How could he not be?

It’s fair to say the time away from the elite level provided Durdin with a sense of perspective and gratitude which is laying the foundation for his 2023 pre-season.

“I think every kid should spend a year in the workforce before they get into footy — I’m a big advocate for it, because I’ve done it,” he said.

“I went straight from school to footy - I grew up on a farm so I did a little bit of work, but not heaps - so I didn’t have that work experience coming into a footy club.

“We’re lucky we get time in the footy program to not only recover from strenuous training loads, but also managing your time. In my first time around at North, I probably didn’t have that — that was my biggest lesson back in SA.

“I’ve brought that over here now, to get the most out of my days here at Carlton and get more out of myself.”

Time was the exact thing which Durdin didn’t exactly have a lot of back in June last year, when he was drafted out of Glenelg to become a Blue in the mid-season draft.

His first month at Carlton - which saw him debut within a matter of weeks - often involved him sitting down in front of a computer screen with Jacob Weitering and Aaron Hamill for hours at a time, discerning the team’s defensive structures as the newest member of the playing group.

The big benefit this pre-season compared to his arrival in the middle of last year? Having that knowledge base from day one.

“It was a pretty unique situation — especially since we were pretty thin on key defenders at that point,” he said.

“My mindset was about learning this game style as quickly as possible… I feel more involved now.

“Overall, I want to be part of a winning system, club and culture. That’s the main focus: I’d love to be part of that as much as possible, so I’m doing everything I can at the moment.”

His willingness to get involved with all facets of life at IKON Park was demonstrated even after his first truncated season as a Carlton player came to an end. 

Durdin became a constant face at the AFLW team’s training sessions throughout season seven, joining teammate Nic Newman on the track to assist the Game Changers.

“Looking ahead in my football life once the playing days are done, I’d love to get into a bit of coaching,” he said.

“I just wanted to get on the front foot and asked to help out with the AFLW team… ‘Newy’ is there as well, which made life a lot easier.

“He said to me ‘you just do the craft stuff, I’ll run the system’, so I just sat back and looked over his shoulder! Just joking, he was unreal.”

His first AFL pre-season in a few years meant there were a few summer ‘milestones’ which Durdin found himself once again a part of: not least, the final session before Christmas, and “blowing some cobwebs out” upon the return yesterday.

However, a trip back home during the break provided a healthy dose of perspective to the rigours of training.

“I’m from South Australia, so I went back to Mum and Dad’s in the Riverland, where there’s currently a bit of flooding going on at the Murray River,” he said.

“I just went for a drive around a few towns. It was pretty eye-opening, Ii’ve never seen floods before — especially not that bad. 

“Some of the shacks on the river copped it pretty bad, but I think they’re through the worst of it now: Mum and Dad are all fine.”