Josh wings it, with great successCourtney Walsh
The Australian
19 September 2019As a circuit breaker, an infected wound that led to a stint in hospital sounds drastic, but the injury proved the pivotal moment in Tiger Josh Caddy’s season.
Should Richmond claim the premiership over the next fortnight, the nasty scar just below his right knee will serve as a permanent tattoo to another masterful move by coach Damien Hardwick.
A premiership player in his first season at Richmond in 2017, the versatile Caddy enjoyed a stellar season in attack last year but was finding the going tougher in 2019 — until he was switched to the wing last month.
The arrival of Tom Lynch, the return of Jack Riewoldt after injury and the wildcard excellence of Dustin Martin effectively squeezed Caddy out of attack.
The 26-year-old had been serviceable when filling a role for Riewoldt as he battled a knee problem but the goals were not flowing with the same frequency as in 2018 — when he booted 46 goals and was an All Australian nominee — until an accident against St Kilda in Round 15.
“Cutting my leg open against the Saints maybe happened for a reason. It was a pretty decent cut and it became infected and I ended up in hospital,” Caddy told The Australian.
“I missed the next game against the Gold Coast and we won by 100 points so it was not that easy to get back into the team. The forward line was functioning really well, so that was when Dimma (Hardwick) came to me.
“He said ‘I want you in the team but I don’t know if I see you in the forward line going forward. We are going to play you up on the wing’. I said ‘OK’.”
Caddy, who was an inaugural Sun before spending four seasons at Geelong, admitted feeling somewhat surprised.
For starters, he had never played on the wing at any level and, even for an established footballer such as himself, the transition required an education.
This led to a stint back in the reserves after his recovery from the leg wound, with Caddy learning the tricks of his new trade under Craig McRae, the former triple-premiership player with Brisbane who has led the Tigers into a VFL grand final on Sunday.
“When you know your team is a chance to succeed, you just want to play. So I went back and played on the wing for a couple of weeks in the reserves and that was really enjoyable,” he said.
“No player wants to play in the VFL. You want to play AFL. But I had an enjoyable couple of weeks.”
Putting football and success into perspective is something that may come easier to Caddy, who was named captain of the under-18 All Australian team by virtue of his off-field interests.
The Tiger and his teammate Ryan Garthwaite are regular visitors to the Royal Children’s Hospital through the work they do with cancer foundation Challenge.
“Although it can be a little bit confronting sometimes, it puts everything into perspective when things aren’t going so well, or even when things are going well, you realise just how insignificant it is, football,” he said.
“At the same time there’s the enjoyment they get seeing you, and their families as well, because they ride all the bumps. You feel like you can at least give them something to smile about.”
His teammate and close friend Dion Prestia praised Caddy for the way he has adopted his new role since returning to senior football in round 20. “He has probably played the most finals of anyone here but he is another who has been challenged during the year,” Prestia said.
“Last year he had such an amazing year playing forward and he was able to adapt and change his role to the wing. It shows the type of person he is, to (be able to) take a new challenge on.”
Caddy is covering more ground than ever on the wing as he prepares for a preliminary final against Geelong on Friday.
He is also pulling up in better shape due to the differences in running patterns between the wing and forward line: “I am loving it. I couldn’t be happier.”
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/josh-wings-it-with-great-success/news-story/c1547e6e9adc2354897e1f9d0105fbbb
