“IT WAS a pretty easy decision.”

Tom De Koning was cognisant of the noise. How could he not be?

But, in the end, when he re-signed with the Carlton Football Club for another two seasons, it was the culmination of a process where both himself and the Club got what they wanted: De Koning staying at IKON Park.

Re-signed until the end of 2025, De Koning - speaking to Carlton Media this week - said there were plenty of conversations in the lead-up, but he couldn’t be happier to be remaining in the Navy Blue.

What were the main reasons behind his decision?

“The belief I have in where the Club is going, plus the connection I have with my teammates and the coaches is second to none,” De Koning said.

“It’s awesome. With the position I’m in at the Club now and the position we’re in . . . I’m stoked to have it done now, to be able to move on and focus on my footy a bit more.”

There were plenty of people who were having their say on De Koning’s future. Would he stay or would he go?

At the end of the day, De Koning tried his best to surround himself with his support network and keep those conversations strictly with those on a need-to-know basis. However, given the attention that was coming, it was difficult not to be bogged down a little by the noise.

Luckily, he had someone who could empathise with him — and it just happened to be the captain.

“‘Crippa’ was huge. It’s always a bit of an awkward one with contracts, but he pretty much just said ‘take your time’ because he’s been through it as well,” he said.

“It’s a big life decision in the end, and he wanted to make sure I made the right decision for me: in the end, that was signing at Carlton. He was rapt I signed on, but he also never pressured me, which was great.

“As a player, you try to stay away from reading anything and watching anything . . . in the end, I try to think it didn’t affect my footy too much, but it’s good the deal is done now!”

It marked the start of a big 24 hours for De Koning, with news of his re-signing coming through on Thursday night before Carlton accounted for the old enemy in front of over 86,000 people at the MCG. 

Admitting the bright lights and attention of the contract announcement may have been a little bit of a distraction in the build-up to the game, De Koning still couldn’t hide his excitement when it came to the events of late last week.

And while there’s clearly still work to be done, De Koning’s faith in the direction of the Club was on show when the Blues accounted for the ladder leaders on a big stage.

“It was pretty huge! It got announced the night before the game, and then it was good to get a huge win in front of a big crowd,” he said.

“I’m sponsored by the Cheersquad, and every time I’m down in the forward line, they’re always starting chants and whatnot. They’ve been great for me.

“[Friday night] was really exciting for the whole club. We’re starting to build a tough, physical brand of footy and our identity has really been on show for the last month, and I’m really keen to be part of that.

“The coaches have backed me in and really believed in me, which has been huge for me.”