Bachar Houli opens up on Richmond's drought-breaking premiershipBACHAR HOULI,
Sunday Herald Sun
8 October 2017EVERYONE plays football to win Grand Finals.
I was no different, playing with Richmond and Essendon across my first 10 seasons, but while it was most definitely a goal, it wasn’t quite the burning ambition others might have had.
I wanted to succeed and win as often as I could. I’ve always been passionate about giving my best and performing to the highest level.
But I also knew that there was more to life than only football, including two of the most important things in my life — my family and my faith.
Something changed for me this year, though. My family and my faith were still as important as always, but the connection, the bond, and the level of care built amongst the Richmond playing group meant it just felt right that not only got the chance to play off in the Grand Final, but also to win the club’s first premiership in 37 years.
It was an incredible experience. I knew it would mean a lot to me, but I didn’t realise how much this chapter in my life would have an impact on me personally.
Take a look at the 22 players who won the Grand Final.
There are only a handful of A-graders. The rest of us are B and C-graders but it is all about being the heart and soul of this team.
Part of the special affinity we have as a group comes from the honest sessions we had in the pre-season. They’ve been called the Triple Hs — we talked about our hardships, our highlights and our heroes.
It gave us a personal insight into what made the players tick, and it wasn’t only about moment, but also about creating conversations for a later time.
To see teammates go into depth about their life away from football showed a vulnerability that led to a trust that we carried through to the Grand Final.
It wasn’t a normal week leading into the big game, but I tried to keep things as normal as possible, and in many ways, that produced a calmness I still can’t quite explain.
The Bachar Houli Academy was scheduled for Grand Final week. It is a week-long program for young Muslims who dream of playing in the AFL. I’m such a believer in the Academy I wasn’t going to miss it.
I was there for a few hours in the afternoon and in the evening, and I was also lucky enough to be there for one of the matches at Essendon’s ground on the Thursday.
The day before the Grand Final was always going to be a bit different.
Training at Punt Rd gave all the players a very special moment we won’t forget. There was a massive vibe there and the players were pumped to see so many fans there.
The Grand Final parade followed. All week I had been speaking with my three-year-old daughter Sarah about how she was going to be in a car with me waving to all the people.
I wasn’t sure she was going to go through with it. She had said: “I don’t want to wave to the people”, but once she got there she was a star.
She was so cool, calm and collected. I looked at her and she was so focused I felt like she was a part of the team.
My other daughter, Maryan, is only 10 weeks old and she was with my wife, Rouba.
I always spend Friday nights with my in-laws, with a barbecue.
I wanted to stick to my routine, except that I had my wife’s pasta instead. Some mates came around and we went out to a local restaurant. I enjoyed the company and, to be honest, it took my mind off the game.
I slept in the spare room that night to try to get some extra sleep. But from the moment I woke up — very early, as I always do — I felt relaxed and calm. Dad and my four brothers came around that morning to pick up their tickets, and they looked more nervous than me.
Some of the players were nervous in the rooms, which is understandable, but I wasn’t. I don’t know why. I just knew we would give 100 per cent so I was determined to soak up the vibe.
How could you not be relaxed in the rooms before the biggest game of your career when Damien Hardwick is cracking gags? Some of them were good, others were not. But you have to laugh, because he is the head coach. He has been great in allowing us to embrace the moment.
I was proud of the way I went about my game. There are certain things about the game that I don’t necessarily do, for example taking chop-out marks on opposition. I felt like I found a new gear. I was confident and relaxed.
At half-time, when we led by nine points, you could just tell that we were going to come out and do well in the third quarter.
I felt as if we had the game won about 10 or 15 minutes into the last quarter, but it wasn’t until one of the last goals we kicked that I remember running back to defence and telling the boys: “How good is this? Enjoy it, we have to celebrate this.” But our back half is so process-driven that they would have none of it, saying the game wasn’t over.
That brought a smile to my face. That attitude got us there in the first place. When the siren went I was next to Trent Cotchin. I just grabbed him and said: “You are coming down with me.” It was a special moment that I will never forget.
The rooms were so busy and it was great to celebrate with families and friends, the supporters and the people who helped us to get to where we were. We sang the song as loud and proud as ever, but I was determined to follow the routine I always do.
As soon as we dispersed, I went straight into the locker room, and took off my boots and let it all sink in. There were only a couple of other players in there and we just sat there and soaked up the moment. It dawned on me we had built something that would last for a very, very long time.
It was great to see my family in the rooms. Rouba doesn’t go to the football much these days because of the kids, but she was there, and so were my father and brothers. Mum watched the game from home with my sisters and my nieces and nephews.
We had the premiership dinner celebrations that night, which was good, but as soon as we came off stage as a group, I left. My family was waiting downstairs for me.
I wasn’t trying to disrespect my teammates by leaving early — I love my teammates — but they understand the importance of family and faith to me.
I ended up going with a group of 20 of my family and friends to a pizza restaurant in Kensington, which they kept open for us. We stayed there for an hour before I went home about 11.30pm. I went to bed about 2am but was up again at 5am, which is my routine.
We have five daily prayers and one of them is 5am, and after I left the mosque, I went around to my cousin’s cafe for a latte. It tasted so good.
My teammates know I don’t drink alcohol, and appreciate I don’t really like being around alcohol. So after they had celebrated for most of the night, I was more than happy to give them a chop-out in terms of media duties for the morning after the Grand Final.
I appeared on Game Day that morning, having had my manager Nigel Carmody make a mad dash to find me a borrowed Richmond polo shirt because mine had been locked away with the property steward after the Grand Final.
We had a great day back at Punt Rd and at the best-and-fairest on the Monday night, so there were plenty of things happening. Then, the boys had their “mad Tuesday” and I was always going to spend an hour or so with them while they were all nice and sober. It was a fun experience, but I had something important to do.
An eight-year-old supporter, Hunter McBurnie, from Albury, has leukaemia and was in the Royal Children’s Hospital. He had written, saying one of his dreams was to meet me and I just thought to myself I had to do something special for him.
Eight weeks prior he had been running around kicking a football and fulfilling his dreams, so it touched my heart to be able to go and meet him. He was rapt but, to be honest, I was just as happy to see him and the smile on his face.
I had close call the following day, though. I am a passionate fisherman and have been doing up a boat so I can have a big snapper season, which is in October and November.
But in the darkness of the early morning on Wednesday, I hit my boat into a pole without a light on and did some serious damage. The only good thing was that, thankfully, no one was hurt. I was able to borrow a mate’s boat straight afterwards and head back out there, but I am not sure how I am going to operate without my boat.
What a difference a week makes. The Friday before the Grand Final I was at the massive parade and on game day more than 100,000 watched us play. But as I write this, I am almost in the middle of nowhere — in the small New South Wales town of Roto, camping with some family and friends.
It is about as far away as you can get from the roar of the MCG on Grand Final day, about eight hours from Melbourne and eight hours from Sydney. We are up here just chilling out and relaxing, quadbiking and having some fun.
It’s been a big week; it’s been a massive year. And it just makes you want to do it all again.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/bachar-houli-opens-up-on-richmonds-droughtbreaking-premiership/news-story/2ba37509998fe9c850365b47752e53d0
