NIC Newman needed a blank canvas.
At the end of 2018, he wasn’t sure where things were heading. He had to wait a little bit longer, when his trade from Sydney to Carlton in the 2018 off-season went through with minutes to spare.
To that point, Newman was 25 with 31 games to his name after four years with the Swans. Now, heading into the Blues’ Heritage Game, he’s readying himself for a century in Navy Blue and all that goes with it.
Above all else, undisputedly, he has found his football home.
“I wasn’t really sure where I fit. I felt like I needed a fresh start, a blank canvas. You only get one first impression at a footy club, and I wanted to make it work,” Newman told Carlton Media ahead of his impending milestone this Sunday.
“That was the main goal when I got here. It’s crazy to think that 100 games later and six years, it’s felt like it has gone fairly quickly.
“I wasn’t really sure of myself as a footballer and as a person. The boys in the locker room will probably say I haven’t grown up and I’m still a kid at heart . . . but I felt like I’ve grown up here a little bit, became a bit more of a man from an immature boy.
“I’m really grateful to the Carlton Footy Club for the opportunity they gave me. It definitely feels like home.”
It’s hard to imagine Newman not being a footballer, having become such an integral part of not only Carlton’s defensive unit, but the playing group itself and the wider leadership of the team. This is someone who only made it onto an AFL list from Frankston as he was about to turn 22, as an apprentice landscaper and apprentice carpenter before getting drafted.
And while it may seem like the 100 games has come around quickly, it hasn’t been without a fair share of turmoil — not least, the ruptured patella tendon he endured upon in the first quarter of football’s return from Covid which wiped out over a year of football.
The opportunity to reflect hasn’t quite come yet for a player who started with no guarantees in his footballing career, but the sense of pride is immediate.
“It’s something I’m proud of, I’ll be even more proud once my career finishes. Playing 100 games is pretty cool, but to play 100 for Carlton and get the name on the locker is something that’s special to me.
“To play 100 games for Carlton, to have some sort of imprint on the place - albeit pretty small - is something that’s there forever.”
As the Blues look to get back to winning form, it’ll be the perfect result for Newman in what’s already been a significant 2024 to date.
Getting engaged to long-time partner Sam to bring in the new year, the two will welcome their first child come the end of the year — although some at IKON Park suggest a few of his teammates may already qualify under the ‘kids’ bracket even now.
“Mick [Agresta] and Nick [Austin] are pretty pumped with the 100 games, having a newborn coming at the end of the year. It qualifies for both father-son and father-daughter . . . but the boys joke I’ve got a couple of sons here already.
“Matt Carroll, Lachie Cowan. ‘Cow’ was probably the most like-for-like as a baby — I had to feed him, do his dishes, do his washing.
“I had some good help when I was young and know how important that can be, so I’ve tried to help a few of those guys . . . maybe a bit too much. Sam probably did a bit too much for them at home, but they’re all good kids.”
And we promise, the fact that the milestone game for someone maybe referred to by the younger players as the ‘old man’ of the playing group will take place during the Club’s Heritage Game is a complete coincidence.
“The jumper . . . having the old retro collar will be good. It’ll be a pretty cool jumper to have for your 100th Carlton game, the timing worked well.”
