YOU CAN always call upon family.
And for Marc Pittonet, he’s got someone in his corner that has been not only a source of inspiration for him over the last decade, but also a constant sounding board.
Pittonet’s cousin is Scotty James, the Australian snowboarder who is a four-time Olympian, winning a silver medal in last year’s Winter Olympic Games and a bronze medal back in 2018.
Since the ruckman has been on his journey pursuing a career in elite sport in his own regard, he hasn’t had to look far when it comes to the standards required to make it at the highest level . . . despite some machinations being quite stark in contrast.
“Being able to watch his journey, to get to where he is now and being so successful, and being professional for 12-14 years now — it’s been phenomenal for my career,” Pittonet told Dylan Buckley for AFL Media’s Friday Knock Offs.
“He’s someone I’ve really leaned on for advice, to see what he does and to get some exposure. I did a running session with him over Christmas while he was here.
“Seeing an individual athlete, which is so different to what we know from a team point of view and how driven you’ve got to be, how deliberate you’ve got to be with everything — he’s always there for advice, it’s unreal.”
While Christmas running sessions with Olympic athletes might be part and parcel for Pittonet, one thing that struck a cord with him - and continues to amaze him - is the passion provided by Carlton supporters.
It was at the end of 2019 where Pittonet came across from Hawthorn, where he spent five seasons on the list. While he didn’t play, his first full season in brown and gold ended in the third of the threepeat.
When he arrived, Carlton was at the opposite end of that spectrum, but that didn’t stop him from being blown away by the support received on a daily basis.
“To see the people that would turn up to open training, who would turn up to games, or when you walk down the street and you see more and more Carlton gear appear, it’s hard to comprehend. I don’t think I appreciated that every other person seems to be a Carlton supporter,” he said.
“The more you play, the more you hear about it, because in daily life you’re hearing people say something positive about how they enjoy watching us play.
“We’ve got some phenomenal supporters. If you play against us at a home game, it’s definitely something that helps us on game day, because it’s just so loud.”
