The Tiger who likes a good catch
Emma Quayle | April 27, 2008
WILL Thursfield starts work experience on a St Kilda fishing boat in the next few weeks. The Richmond defender likes to fish more than almost anything, because it helps him relax and it gives him an excuse to travel to new, peaceful places. "I like to catch things," he said, "and eat them."
Such a simple pleasure perhaps helps explain why Thursfield's other favourite pastime is a slightly more hectic pursuit. Should coach Terry Wallace ask the 22-year-old defender who he'd like to play on in any given game, odds are Thursfield would choose the very best forward in the opposition team.
And if he could pick where to play them, he'd drag them as close as possible to their own team's goals. "I enjoy the pressure. I love trying to stop goals and knowing that if you make one mistake, you could be in big trouble," Thursfield said.
"You have to be calm and patient, but you can't be too calm because things can get intense without warning. But I just like having a job to do, knowing that you've been trusted to be responsible for a good player. It keeps you pretty switched on."
Thursfield found football all on his own. Born in England, he spent the first five years there, before his parents moved their young family to Melbourne.
They wanted to live in the sunshine, quite literally: Thursfield's father is a landscape gardener, and one of the big reasons Thursfield took to fishing is because you do it outdoors.
He took holidays at Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef last year, and the northern coast of NSW before that.
"I'm not sure where I'll go this year, but I love exploring, being outside and seeing new places," he said. "With footy it was a bit the same, I suppose. We moved over here, it was sunny, and then I found this game."
Since the day he arrived at Punt Road, Thursfield has been a full-back. Partly because he liked it, but also because he was told he was. "When you're a rookie," he said, "you kind of do what you're told."
His timing, speed and reach, said assistant coach David King, meant Thursfield seemed naturally suited to play in that part of the ground. That he was one of the more coachable kids at Richmond, always asking questions and trying to put the things he hears into practice, increased his chances of making things work in defence.
He asked questions when he couldn't play, too. Thursfield earned six games at the end of 2005. In his first game the following year, he was in the middle of a good duel with Nick Riewoldt when his left knee buckled at the start of the last quarter. "You always feel on the edge a bit (when you're a rookie)," he said. "Like things could be over really quickly. The last thing that you want is to spend a whole season out."
Still, Thursfield put his time out injured to good use and, looking back, thinks it gave him a chance to learn more about the role he wanted to play. He got a bit bigger, a lot stronger and watched plenty of other full-backs play, starting with the one in his own team.
"I kept my eye on Darren Gaspar, just trying to learn a few tricks," he said. "You never want to be injured, but the thing they told me was just to keep improving, however I could. If they can see you persisting, I think that's when they'll stick with you. Even though I couldn't play, I was trying to become a better player."
Thursfield struck up a close friendship with Gaspar during his time out, one that endured after the defender was retired early last season, effectively to clear the way for Thursfield, Luke McGuane and Kelvin Moore.
Gaspar liked Thursfield because he was so enthusiastic. "Not many young kids are all that keen to play deep defence, especially so early in their careers," Gaspar said. "Most of them try to get up on a wing or in the middle, but Will put his hand up to play down there. I liked that."
Thursfield felt terrible when Gaspar left, mostly because he liked him, and missed having him around the club. "He taught me everything I know," he said.
"It was upsetting when he left and I wanted him to still be there, but even when he wasn't he was helping me and ringing me up all the time, talking about opponents and helping me.
"It must have been a really hard time for him, but that never came through. He was always there, and I still feel really grateful for that."
So far this season, Thursfield has spent time on Brendan Fevola, Nathan Thompson, Chris Tarrant and Luke McPharlin. Gaspar thinks he's ready for Lance Franklin today, while the Tigers are sure that, no matter who he plays on, he'll be lining up on top forwards for a very long time.
"He's getting stronger and stronger, and his football knowledge is improving all the time," said King. "He's able to play on different types of players now, and he's a young player with enormous potential. He's only going to get better."
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