Eye on the Tiger
Rohan Connolly | May 17, 2008 - 1:42AM
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/eye-on-the-tiger/2008/05/17/1210765193012.html
State games have a habit of announcing the arrival of a genuine AFL star to a wider football audience.
It happened, memorably, back in 1984, when a bloke called Gary Ablett kicked eight goals from a half-forward flank for Victoria in Perth. It was the case when Collingwood youngster Gavin Brown won the E.J. Whitten Medal in front of almost 90,000 people at the MCG in 1989. A decade later, with a North Melbourne kid named Brent Harvey.
And it might just have happened again in last Saturday night's Hall of Fame game, the subject this time being Richmond midfielder Nathan Foley. Certainly, there were a few knowing smiles on the faces of Richmond's football department as Foley continually cut a swathe through the MCG centre square, his blistering pace followed up with some damaging disposal.
The Tigers knew that their man, already a vice-captain and a best-and-fairest runner-up, had it in him. But there was a certain satisfaction in watching those without a penchant for the yellow-and-black suddenly cottoning on, too, the refrain along the lines of: "How good is this bloke?"
Funnily enough, it was a realisation perhaps even pondered by Foley himself. After all, he'd been as star-struck as any fan when the Victorian squad had assembled for its first training run before the match.
"I pretty much hadn't met any of them (his teammates) going into it," he says of mixing with the likes of Chris Judd and Jonathan Brown.
"That first training run, you're almost in awe. It was massive, an amazing experience, the whole few days. Just to get to know those blokes a bit better and watch how everyone prepared."
Not that the affable 22-year-old from Colac has much to learn on that score. Foley's thirst for football learning and hard work on and off the track is already becoming the stuff of legend at Punt Road.
There's the countless hours he spends with Richmond assistant coaches Brian Royal and David King watching tapes of his own game and those of the AFL's elite. The extra running, having put himself through his own sprint training. Extra weights, overseen by the club's elite performance manager Matt Hornsby to make sure Foley isn't overdoing it.
"I've watched a lot of tape of Gary Ablett jnr and Chris Judd and those sorts of blokes. I try to do a few things here and there - more than is required - as do a lot of blokes," he says, modestly. "That's just the way footy is now. As a midfielder, it's about winning your own ball and clearances, but also making sure you're damaging with your forward-line entries and with kicking goals. I suppose it's just about continuing your improvement across all areas, because the moment you don't keep improving, the game can go past you."
Not that there appears much chance of that, given the amount of ground Foley has made up on the game since missing out on selection in the 2003 national draft and being thrown a lifeline by the Tigers via the rookie list.
In fact, Foley is barely recognisable from the player who made his senior debut in mid-2005, the same evening that feted teammate Nathan Brown broke his leg. Just ask King, an unashamed fan.
"It's been the most remarkable development of a player in a short space of time that I've seen," he says. "I can't remember anyone in just 60-odd games being able to come so quickly from where he was . . . basically a ball-getting clearance player to being able to do damage every time he touches the footy and being able to impact the scoreboard the way he's able to.
"A guy like 'Buddy' Franklin can come on to the scene as a genuine star, but his weapons now have always been his weapons. What Nathan's been able to do is be an excellent stoppage player, but then to be able to develop the whole breadth of his game.
"The run and carry, the busting through lines, the goalkicking - I haven't seen anyone in my time reconfigure their whole game like he has so quickly. But he still wants to get better. Even now, he'll still be looking for another edge to go that next step."
That admiration is clearly mutual. Having spent two seasons with under-18 side Geelong Falcons, Foley was more hopeful than expectant of being drafted late in 2003. He acknowledges why he wasn't and the help he's been given in rectifying those perceived flaws. "I probably used to just get the ball and get rid of it," he says.
"I think there were questions about my pace, and I was probably considered more of a 'grab and hack' player, just get the ball and get it on.
"That's where 'Kingy' and Brian Royal have been able to help me. You rely on your coaches so much, and they and 'Plough' (senior coach Terry Wallace) have been of huge assistance in helping me transform my game."
The big pay-off came last year with a superb season where he was pipped at the post by veteran teammate Matthew Richardson for the best and fairest. Foley averaged 24 disposals and five clearances a game, and importantly, hit the target with 78% of his touches.
That form has simply flowed on into 2008. While it's "Richo" who has captured most of the limelight, it's Foley who is ranked No. 1 at his club for contested possession, handballs, clearances (10 more centre clearances than any teammate), hard-ball gets and score assists.
Then there's that capacity simply to carry the ball. Fast. Having ended 2007 the AFL's No. 1-ranked player for running bounces, it's hard to believe now there could ever have been a doubt about his pace.
It's just a confidence thing, he shrugs, and a fair bit of work. Says King: "He wasn't using all his assets, didn't show it in his game. Now you can see his speed, he actually plays quick.
"I think he wants to put players to the sword now. When he gets the ball, he wants to impose himself, make players chase him, or embarrass them by taking them on and sidestepping them. That's been the single biggest improvement."
The essential ingredient, however - hunger - has always been there, though, from the time Foley was a little kid growing up in Colac.
His father, Denis, known universally as "Shunter" after working with the goods carriages on the train lines, was a wingman with Colac and South Colac. His mum, Sue, played a lot of basketball.
Foley snr used to take the local Auskick clinic, where Nathan's older brother Ben was a regular. The youngest Foley child didn't need much convincing to have a crack as well. "We were only an hour away from Geelong, so we used to go to most home games and watch Gary Ablett snr play a fair bit," he recalls. "I just jumped into it at a really young age, then just went through the ranks, under 12s, 14s, then with the Falcons in under-15 and 16 carnivals. Once you start making those rep squads, you sort of get a desire to go further."
That, of course, meant packing up and moving to Melbourne once he'd been made a rookie by the Tigers. Leaving the nest carried its share of sacrifice, with Foley's parents the "major influence on my life".
At first, he'd head back there whenever the opportunity arose. But not so much now. Denis and Sue make it up from Colac for virtually every Richmond game. Home is a house shared with a couple of old mates studying in Melbourne. "I'm really comfortable here now," he muses.
And very comfortable with a still relatively low profile. He can't remember being recognised whilst out and about, he says, with a sense of mild relief.
Age photographer John Donegan, sitting in on this interview, then confesses that while in the Victorian rooms pre-game last Saturday, he didn't recognise Foley, either. The sort of quip that might completely deflate a healthy ego. Foley just chuckles. That's fine with him.
But he's smart enough to know that after last year's stellar season, and especially after last Saturday, it's not going to be the case much longer. To that end, and with the same diligence that he has worked on his game, Foley last year pursued some media training off his own bat.
It's already coming in handy. Particularly since being made, along with Chris Newman, a vice-captain to Kane Johnson at the start of the season, a role where he is also making a big impression.
"If there's something to say, he'll say it," King says. "He won't say things just for the sake of being heard, but I can tell you what he says is 100% accurate. He says things when they need to be said, and that, to me, is worth a lot more."
As for the experience of wearing the Big V, King has no doubt what that will be worth. "That's been the real bonus for us, to have him play in that game and rub shoulders with those guys," King says. "It was only a few days, but the impact that's going to have on him . . ."
King, clearly relishing that prospect, doesn't need to finish. Richmond might already have known, but now the entire AFL community is aware a new star has been born. And one who might still have a fair way to soar yet.
ANALYSIS
NATHAN Foley was disappointed but not devastated when he missed out on selection at the 2003 national draft. He still had time to prove his worth to AFL clubs. And he had the rookie list.
When the rookie draft began in 1997, more than a decade after the birth of the big-ticket national draft, its profile was seen as something of a consolation prize, an encouragement award to those considered not quite safe enough bets for the senior list. That profile changed considerably and quickly.
That very first rookie draft spawned some great success stories. A future Essendon premiership player in Mark Johnson. Melbourne stalwarts James McDonald and Russell Robertson. A future All-Australian defender in Nathan Bassett.
There's been a long roll call of AFL talent since who began as rookies. Dean Cox. Brett Kirk. Brad Sewell. Chad Fletcher, Tarkyn Lockyer. Dean Brogan. Stephen Milne. Ben Rutten. Nathan Bock. And so on.
The 2004 rookie draft in which Foley was picked at No. 4 was particularly fruitful. Melbourne, with whom Foley had spent the pre-season, had plumped for Aaron Davey the pick before. Carlton had already taken Andrew Carrazzo, now a best-and-fairest winner.
Already in 2008, rookies have made an impression. Melbourne upgraded Austin Wonaeamirri to its senior list a couple of weeks ago in time for him to kick four goals, help the Demons win their first victory of the season and earn a Rising Star nomination in the process. Melbourne has promoted Shane Valenti this week.
Rookies are no longer players who might plug a hole on a senior list if the injury gods fail to smile upon a particular club.
With the pace and intensity of the modern game inevitably taking at least some sort of toll on virtually every side's playing stocks, there's every likelihood they will be called upon to play a key role in proceedings.
Like in 2001, with reigning premier Essendon still apparently invincible. A sudden spate of injuries, including one to centreman Joe Misiti, forced the Bombers to promote onballer Damien Peverill.
So successful was the previously little-regarded midfielder that when Misiti was fit again and Peverill had to return to the rookie list, the Bombers lost much of their midfield momentum.
Foley, whilst still a kid himself when made a rookie, had at least played two seasons of TAC football with Geelong Falcons. He'd spend another full year playing alongside and against fully developed bodies with Coburg in the VFL before he made his debut with Richmond.
Come draft time, it will always be the likes of Bryce Gibbs and Matthew Kreuzer who command the spotlight. But Foley is living proof that the far less-heralded players taken in the rookie draft can end up having every bit as big an impact on AFL football.
