FOR as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved playing football.
That’s the best way I can describe re-signing for the Carlton Football Club.
Every morning, I’m waking up pinching myself: I’m living the dream to be given the opportunity to play at the elite level for a further three years. I’m so grateful to the Club for showing its faith in me.
I’m really looking forward to improving every game, every week and every year to become a better player. I think I’m only scratching the surface now.
There’s no denying it — I’ve had some tough times in the earlier years. I want to continue to grow.
For the Club to reach out to me showed a lot of faith. The supporters have been amazing — I really do feel loved by this club.
For that love and the faith the Club and supporters have shown in me, I just want to let everyone know that I’m going to work as hard as I can. I’m going to work as hard as I can to become the best player I can, to drive this club to be successful in the near future.
To play alongside some of these guys and to be able to be there as they develop into better and better players is an amazing feeling. I think we’ve got some really exciting times in the future: I can’t wait to see the young players that are coming through, to be part of their growth and development.
We’ve seen their growth already, guys like Weiters and Marchy — the courage and strength they’ve shown this year has been amazing, along with the other backs. I feel very grateful to be part of the back six.
I always find it good to reflect at times, to remain grateful of where I am today. To be given the opportunity to play AFL football - which is what I love to do - is amazing. I couldn’t be happier.
Even to cast my mind back a couple of months ago with the head knock, there were some doubts. This sort of talk about not being able to play again or missing the rest of the season.
When I got concussed, the amount of messages and the mail that got sent to the front desk… I felt overwhelmed by the support. I’ve never had so many messages before in my life.
Over the last three years, the biggest thing is I’ve seen so much growth in myself: both as a person and a player. I want to continue to grow.
I’ve got a lot more improvement to come and this is the place where I’m going to see that.
