Tucking in
10 June 2006 Herald Sun
Michael Horan
Being in the spotlight never suited Shane Tuck, but when you're the son of the AFL games record-holder and playing at his club, it's hard to avoid. He had a simple solution: step out of it. Tuck headed off road, then beat his own path back to the big time. And his formula for staying at the top is simple. Keep on Tuckin'.
SHANE Tuck had heavy baggage, too heavy to carry. That was the hard fact for a hopeful 18-year-old footballer, who, under the weight of expectation and pedigree, walked away from Glenferrie Oval after a couple of unfulfilled years on the Hawthorn rookie list, expecting never to return.
When you are the son of AFL games record-holder Michael Tuck and nephew of the great Gary Ablett, the road to an AFL career is not hard to find, but it can be a lonely one.
Which is why Tuck decided that he needed to take a detour before that undeniable pedigree and a maturing passion to succeed brought him to Punt Rd, and his standing today as a prime mover in the Tigers' midfield.
His father played 426 games for Hawthorn, was captain in four of the seven premiership sides in which he played and a three-time All-Australian.
Uncle Gary played 248 games and is one of only five men in AFL history to have kicked more than 1000 goals.
But after two years of being the struggling son of a gun – and nephew of "God" – Tuck, mentally and physically, had had enough.
"I just wanted a year off footy, I was sick of it. I just wanted to go and play with my mates in the sticks," Tuck, now 24, said this week.
"It actually didn't faze me too much because I just didn't want to play league footy. I'd had enough of it. It might have had a bit to do with the pressure of who my old man was, but I was just really sick of it.
"I couldn't put six weeks together without having something wrong with me. It used to really give me the poos, so I just wanted to walk away.
"My old man wasn't too happy about it, but I just didn't want to play."
They are the words of the man who last season was Richmond's leading possession winner, third in the club best-and-fairest and, according to Tigers coach Terry Wallace, very unlucky not to win All-Australian selection.
Wallace says Tuck's work ethic on the training track is a shining example of dedication and commitment – a stark contrast to the boy who threw it all in a few years earlier.
So what happened along that scenic route?
First of all, Tuck went bush to hang out with his mates.
He played footy at Carrum Downs, but then took off to South Australia to play under former Hawthorn teammate Shaun Rehn at West Adelaide in the SANFL.
"When I heard Shaun had the job there, I went straight away," Tuck said.
"I was pretty matey with him at Hawthorn and I respected him a lot, so I thought it would be a good opportunity, a good chance to play some good footy again."
Tuck said the move wasn't about getting another shot at the big league.
"It actually wasn't, no. That's what a lot of people think, but it just wasn't so. I just wanted to try something new," Tuck said.
"Then about 10 or so games into the season, people kept on talking about, `Geez, you could get drafted again'.
"I was working as a landscape gardener on pretty average money, and I started to think I'd like to get drafted again and play footy for money again."
By the end of the 2003 season, Tuck had been interviewed by several AFL clubs before Richmond picked him in the seventh round of the national draft, No. 73 overall.
But he struggled to get a game under coach Danny Frawley.
"My first season at Richmond was pretty ordinary," he said.
"I rolled up to training and I knew what it took, but it had advanced a lot more just in the couple of years I'd had off.
"My start at Richmond wasn't good. I think Danny Frawley's first impression of me was not a good one, and that led him to believe for most of the year I wasn't up to it."
As fate would have it, Frawley departed and was replaced by Wallace, a former Hawk who played a lot of football with Shane's father.
Wallace admitted that although it was a near thing, he wanted to take a punt on Tuck.
"From the first day I walked in the door, I wasn't sure which way I was going to go," Wallace said.
"Through the trade period we ended up with an extra bloke coming in, and that meant I had to cut one more off our list. It came down to Tim Fleming or Tucky because they were the only two who were uncontracted.
"I knew more about Tim than I did about Tucky, but basically the bottom line when I made a decision was with the age difference.
"If Tucky was going to make it, he was going to with all the kids we drafted, where Fleming's career was going to be over by the time those kids had matured. So I went with Shane in the hope he'd come through.
"The other point was when I first arrived at Richmond, there was no staff – no footy manager, no assistant coaches. It was just me going in trying to work out who I was going to pick up. There was only me and my PA in the whole place.
"But while I was getting organised, the first person in there every day was Tucky – doing weights, getting out and doing a bit of running," Wallace said.
"I thought, poo, he's a big, strong bull, he obviously wants it. I don't know enough about him to make a decision, so I'm not going to throw him out the door until I find out.
"He's done it all himself. All we did is give him opportunity. That's purely and simply where it stands."
From reluctant and uncertain to an example of what it takes to be an AFL top-liner is quite a metamorphosis, and Tuck is the first to admit it.
"Yes, it is a big transition, but I think being 24, my body is mature now," he said.
"I don't think I played any good footy until I was 21 at West Adelaide. It took me a long time to start playing well.
"It took until I was fully grown."
Tuck said going so close to being cut at the end of 2004 also made him realise there would never be a third chance.
"I really wanted to play league footy. I learned I'd just have to put in a big one and I had to have a good year or I'd be out the door. I didn't want to get delisted again," he said.
"I did everything I could – had a full pre-season and hardly missed a session. I didn't miss any of the pre-season games, and things just led on from there.
"I'm still learning. I've played 35 games now, and while there is still a lot to learn, I feel like I'm right, yeah. I feel like I fit in."
Watching the Tigers each week is Dad, who proudly acknowledges that Shane has done it – made the grade – his way.
"Probably the hardest thing was being my son at Hawthorn. That made it harder for him," Michael Tuck admitted.
"It's all credit to him, really. There's not a lot who get a second chance at it. There are a lot of kids who wouldn't mind having another go, but you actually have to be able to go and do it.
"I think what he appreciates is he's done it himself, not being at Hawthorn through me.
"He's his own man, really. He attacks the ball the way he wants to, he's got his own ability.
"One of his uncles, Peter, always said he could play, it was only a matter of time and if he got the opportunity or not. That's the best part of it.
"It doesn't matter about me any more. It's about him and the way he's going."
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