David Astbury on Brownlow Medal, Alex Rance, Damien HardwickChris Cavanagh,
Herald Sun
6 August 2017DAVID Astbury says Richmond players hope the huge boost in AFL player pay will help the club keep Dustin Martin.
And Astbury says the superstar midfielder won’t be affected by his move to outright Brownlow favouritism following the suspension of Patrick Dangerfield.
The revitalised fullback has also opened up on how close he came to leaving the Tigers to join Brisbane two years ago and the challenging times of pushing through repeated injuries including standing on a stingray.
And he says Richmond is much better placed than when it fell at the first hurdle in its most recent finals campaigns.
“I think in past years (the close losses Richmond suffered early in the season) would have been diabolical around the club. But with the culture that we’ve built, it just helped us grow from those experiences.”
A MINUTE WITH DAVID ASTBURY ...
What’s it like playing alongside Rance?“I feel blessed on a weekly basis seeing what he can produce on the football field. I consider him to be one of the best players in the AFL and sometimes he makes my job a lot easier.”
Has Dangerfield’s suspension affected Dusty, the new Brownlow favourite?“Dusty’s not affected by much at all. He’s just a consistent personality around the football club and we love him for that and I don’t think he’s someone that’s been looking for individual success, I think he’s just really driven by what the team’s producing at the moment.”
Did Jack Riewoldt really think his eye was going to pop out last week?“Yeah. Sometimes Jack can make a scene because he’s such an emotional person but I could tell that he was really rocked straight away and I had to pick him up and take him off the oval. It wasn’t just a standard poke in the eye.”
How many times have you been down to Jake King’s tattoo parlour?“No tattoos for me. I went down to the launch for him. I felt like a fish out of water but I went and did the right thing. Apparently the business is really successful but I don’t think he’s going to get much investment from me.”
How many guys have bought new cars since the 20 per cent pay rise came through?“We’re just hoping that 20 per cent pay rise just helps us hold on to Dusty. We’ve got a pretty modest playing group so there’s not too many flashy cars getting around.”
Why does Damien Hardwick always talk about his wife in press conferences?“I don’t know, it’s Dimma’s thing. He’s got a few analogies with Danielle and I’m not sure how she feels about it but he keeps driving it home. I think it’s just his way to relate to a day-to-day matter and a lot of them are pretty funny.”
Did the close losses earlier this year really bring the group together?“Absolutely. I think in past years it would have been diabolical around the club. But with the culture that we’ve built, it just helped us grow from those experiences.”
What’s the best thing about being an AFL footballer?“When you first get drafted it’s probably all shiny and glossy and you see the benefits from a selfish perspective of what it can offer you. But now I’m a little bit older I see the benefits of what I can offer someone else. We’ve got a lot of partnerships and there’s a lot of charity work that I enjoy sinking my teeth into so it’s probably those opportunities that I get that probably more worthwhile than anything.”
NO REGRETS AFTER FLIRTING WITH LIONS TRADEIT WAS October 2015 and Richmond’s David Astbury had a big decision to make.
He sat down in the Brighton house of one of his close friends, a piece of paper in front of him and a pen in one hand.
A line was drawn down the middle of that piece of paper. On the left side, he penned in the word ‘Pros’ and on the right side, ‘Cons’.
Astbury still had one year left on his Richmond contract, but was weighing up a move to Brisbane.
He had flown north to meet with Lions officials in the weeks prior, frustrated by a career which was seemingly in a downward spiral and yielded just four AFL games in 2015.
“We’re in an industry where you’ve only got a certain amount of time and I felt like that was getting away from me,” Astbury said.
“I wanted the opportunity to play senior footy and I had a few hiccups along the way with my body but I felt that I was ready and I felt that I was worthy of selection at different stages but I found it difficult to break into the side.
“We looked into it (a Brisbane move) a bit and then I wrote down a list of pros and cons and essentially I thought that my passion for football wasn’t just the game — it was the Richmond Football Club as well and all the people involved.
“I think I had a good formula to improve my football and I think I went through the process pretty thoroughly and it all just came back to playing football here. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stay and I’m really proud that I made that decision.”
The decision was a sliding doors moment for Astbury, who in the four seasons between 2012 and 2015 managed just 19 games for the Tigers.
Last year alone the defender played the same number of games and he will line up for his 19th match of 2017 against Hawthorn today, having not missed a beat this season.
Now 26, Astbury is reaping the rewards of hard work and has learned to manage a body which at stages he feared was not up to playing AFL football.
A regular in the rehabilitation group during his first six seasons at Richmond, foot, knee, hamstring, leg and quad injuries continually got in the way of Astbury playing regular senior football.
The luckless Tiger even required surgery in 2015 to remove a stingray barb from his left foot after a recovery session gone wrong at Port Melbourne beach.
“I knew I had the ability to perform consistently at the top level but I thought at different stages my body robbed me of that opportunity which is something I really battled with,” Astbury said.
“It was not so much clear-cut depression but I was just dirty on missing out on opportunities to perform. But I got myself healthy, put an enormous amount of work in my body and now I’m able to back up performances week-to-week. I’m really proud that I went through those circumstances and came out a better footballer.”
Fellow defender Alex Rance was one of the biggest helps for Astbury during those tough times.
The pair both speak of each other as being like brothers, and now Astbury is back on the park on a regular basis, he is trying to give back to Rance in whatever way he can.
“I spent a lot of time in rehab and he (Rance) was enormously supportive to me and that’s something I can’t thank him enough for,” Astbury said.
“Dylan Grimes went through exactly the same thing and Rancey was always there to make sure there wasn’t a disconnect between us and the rest of the group and that’s something I’ll never forget through those adverse times. Now that we’re playing footy together, I love the opportunity to make sure his game keeps developing and if I can play any hand in that I get real pride in that. I wouldn’t say it’s anything short of a brotherhood really.”
Injuries ruled Asbury out of taking part in Richmond’s finals campaigns in 2013 and 2014 and his form did not see him picked the club’s elimination final against North Melbourne in 2015.
The Tigers had entered last year with high hopes, only to lose seven of their last nine games and finish 13th.
It seemed another rebuild was on the cards.
When coach Damien Hardwick fronted up on Fox Footy’s On the Couch program last August and firmly said: “I think we will be playing finals next year”, most of the football world scoffed.
But the comments piqued the interest of Astbury and the Richmond playing group, who saw them as the start of a wave of change which has proven to be fruitful this year.
“That was probably the start for me to be honest,” Astbury said of Hardwick’s comments.
“For me he was probably pretty vulnerable there saying that but it showed to me that he really believed in the process and he knew he had to make change but he firmly believed in the group.
“The turnaround in Dimma has probably been a catalyst in the change of our culture as well. I talk about our youth but he’s given them the opportunity to really grow.
“He’s a great coach, always has been, but now his relationships with the players have been further strengthened that’s gone a long way to us really enjoying our football and having that on-field success.”
Astbury grew up on a canola and wheat farm in Tatyoon, a small district 230km west of Melbourne which has a population of 110 people.
His down-to-earth country nature still shines through and being in the spotlight is far from his favourite thing about being an AFL footballer.
However, playing in front of big crowds at the MCG every second week was one of the key items on Astbury’s ‘Pros’ list when he was weighing up the move to Brisbane.
If he can do that in finals this September, the decision to stay at Punt Rd will only be further vindicated.
“At the Richmond Football Club we’re at the foot of the MCG and that’s where we want to be, playing finals at the MCG,” Astbury said.
“Hopefully I get that opportunity this year.”
ASTBURY BY THE NUMBERS2017 Games: 18
SuperCoach average: 73 points
Average disposals: 15.4
Average marks: 6.6 (Ranked 4th in the competition)
Average intercept marks: 3 (Ranked 4th)
Average intercept possessions: 7.6 (Ranked 4th)
Has competed in 85 defensive one-on-one contests this year, losing just 20 per cent (Ranked 3rd)
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/richmond-defender-david-astbury-loving-life-at-tigerland-after-almost-taking-up-an-offer-to-join-brisbane-in-2015/news-story/34f1ec22dc8469e5162fb8f734b419b0
