Deledio fast, they're furious
28 April 2006 Herald Sun
Mark Robinson goes head-to-head with Brett Deledio. MARK ROBINSON: Where does life find you on this great day? BRETT DELEDIO: I'm just hanging out with Chris Newman and Brent Hartigan in Newy's apartment in Port Melbourne. I live just down the road with Cogs (Mark Coughlan) in Elwood.
Who's got the better house? Cogs' place is a house and this is an apartment so it's hard to compare.
Which one is the cleanest? They are both pretty much clean freaks. It's had to judge. Harty's pretty messy, but Newy's pretty tidy.
And living with Coughlan. Good, bad, indifferent? I'd say interesting. He's interesting to watch and see the way he moves.
At home? You don't take notes as he walks around the house, do you? I just the watch the way he carries on, he's definitely a very good cook.
Watched the game against Brisbane. Coincidence you play your best game of the year and you guys win? I did?
You were reasonable, weren't you? No, I didn't play that well. I had 18 possessions and nine marks, nothing special.
Didn't see the West Coast game, how was that effort? I didn't do too much that day. I had one of the Selwood boys playing on me and he did a pretty good job.
Last week was great to watch. I imagine it was great to play in. We were pumped to get the first win but straight away we had to focus on beating the Blues this week. Hopefully we can get that under our belts and be two from five. We didn't go out after the Brisbane game, we knew it was a short break, we did our recovery and that was it.
How are you dealing with the tags? Who did you have Round 1? Against the Bulldogs? I was playing on a number of players. I don't really want to say I was playing on Scotty West because he had a mountain of the footy. I played on a few of their onballers and then Jordy McMahon when I was down forward.
The next week? St Kilda? Played on Montagna and then Fiora.
Selwood against West Coast and who against Brisbane? I had Bushy Copeland and he was pretty tight as well.
He comes across as a bit of yapper. I didn't find him yapping that much, it was more he loves to punch me in the back. He was punching me in the back and the kidneys. It was all the time. Before a centre bounce, we'd be waiting there in the forward line and he'd be always punching and carrying on.
What did you do or say? I really didn't say much to him actually, I kept copping it, and tried to hit him back every now and then.
I like his attitude, but he would be a pain in the arse to play against. Yeah, he likes to antagonise and get under your skin, but you've got to try to not let that happen.
Is there anyone else in the league like him, anyone who physically harrasses you? No, I hadn't had that so far, he's definitely a one-off.
You must have been thinking, 'Will you just pee off?'. I was a little bit. I told him at one stage, 'Mate, the ball's at the other end, stop punching me, wait 'til it gets a bit closer'.
And he would've kept smiling. Yeah. He gets that big fluorescent-green mouthguard smiling.
How are you finding the attention? What sort of attention?
The close checking. We know everyone is accountable and has a player, but you being you, they'll try to put the shutter on you. I've only really had it the last two weeks. Prior to that I'd only had it playing junior footy. I'm still trying to get used to it. It's something I've had a chat to Terry about and we're trying to work through.
How would you rate your four rounds this year? Apart from the West Coast game, I think I've been reasonably consistent, I've just got to get a full four-quarter effort. I've been fading out in the latter stages of the game.
You can kick, you're strong overhead, you can find it, but the striking skill you've got is your speed. Can you utilise that more? Definitely. Terry's had a chat to me and said he'd like to see me carry the ball a lot more. I'm trying to but it's just a matter of making sure the ball's in my hand before I can actually do it.
That's a good plan. What about the West Coast game when Judd was tracking you? Did you know it was him? I didn't really. I figured it out, after taking a bounce, I remember seeing him close by and I thought he must've been chasing me. I saw it on the replay.
Can you beat him? I don't know, he looked like he was making a bit of ground on me.
I thought he was closing you down, but, remember, you were bouncing the ball as well. I probably bounced it a few too many times, but a couple of the boys have been giving me a bit of stick, saying he was definitely catching me.
Head to head, you and him, who do you reckon? I don't know, I'm not going to say. No, I reckon he's probably a little bit quicker.
Who is in the group of quickest in the league? Jordy McMahon? Jordy seems to be one of the quicker players in the competition, but I reckon Aaron Davey is probably the quickest. Andrew Lovett is pretty quick as well. Judd is up there, for sure. He seems to be able to go from standing to top pace in a matter of three steps.
What's your best time for a 100m? 10.94. That was two years ago at a school meet.
Your best over the buzz distance -- 20m? Flying or just standing?
Give us standing. 2.81. And flying is about five, 10m to get going and through the gates and that's 2.19.
Club records? I think so. At the club at the moment they're the fastest.
You won the Grand Final sprint last year. If the Tigers aren't there, will you go again? No, I don't think so. I enjoyed it, to be out there in front of all those people was amazing, but I think Richard Tambling might have a go this year. Danny Meyer is quick too, so maybe he can have a go.
Are you faster than Tambling? He was injured so he wasn't in that race we had, but he's pretty quick once he gets up and going. He dances on a dollar.
Are you an inside or outside player? I'd like to think a bit of both. I'd like to get in there a bit more, I haven't been in there that much this year.
Why don't you just tell the coach? It's not as simple as that, unfortunately. I had a chat to Terry and said I'd like to spend a bit more time in there. He said it's just a matter of getting the rotations right.
The nightmare of three weeks ago. Forgotten? Or a spur? It will be a spur when we play the Dogs again, but we definitely had to deal with a few issues from that game. We tried to forget about it and move on to the next week and prove a few points against the Saints.
You played 22 games last year, but I don't think you were on the end of something like that. Not in the AFL, but I received a few playing juniors back home.
The consequences of being humiliated at Kyabram don't quite match the humiliation of the AFL. Yeah, back up at Ky we used to cop a fearful beating, kicking two or three a game compared to 26 goals from the other side.
Plenty has happened to the boy from Ky in 12 months. How have you handled it? I've had great support from, obviously, parents and family. Dad's brother lives down here with his family, he's been good, as well as all the coaching staff and players, they've helped keep my feet on the ground.
Have they ever left it? I try to keep a pretty level head but sometimes I probably get ahead of myself, I don't know, you'll have to ask other people, I guess.
The Rising Star award was a tremendous achievement. I was honoured to win it and honoured to be put in that group with Ben Cousins and Nathan Buckley and those types. But it's just a medal at the end of the day. I'd rather have team success rather individual success . . . hopefully the Tiges can get up and play finals football this year.
Are you a good country boy doing his best in the big city, or good country boy enjoying all the trappings in the big city? Premieres? Doors opening? Invitations? Best restaurants? I'd like to say I'm still a country kid, I enjoy getting back enjoying my family and friends back in Ky. But a lot of things have happened. Every Wednesday, a couple of boys from the club try to find the best restaurants around and rate them out of 10. There's myself, Kane Johson, Newy, Harty, Petts comes along sometimes and so does Cogs.
There are famous sons of Ky. Molly Meldrum, Garry Lyon . . . who are you more akin to? Garry, I think (laughing).
You know Molly? I've met him, but I don't think he remembers who I am. Matty Elliott is from there, Jim Higgs as well. And the biggest name is probably Kayne Pettifer. I'm pretty disappointed he didn't finish off a couple of passes I gave him on the weekend.
The hair colour . . . you've got rid of the tips. Yeah, got rid of them.
And that was a tip from Kane Johnson to shave the head like himself. I got rid of all the blond but I'm growing it back now. I don't know if I'll tip it but I'm going to grow it longer. Kane said it looks sharp he reckons.
His last three weeks have been pretty good as captain. He's definitely leading from the front, Kane. He showed that the other night when I set him up with that kick and he ran back into Mal Michael.
And Mal could've killed him. Yeah . . . I shouldn't have kicked it like that. I nearly put him in hospital.
Imagine what Mal would've done to you if he got you, he'd snap you in half. Hopefully I would have a full head of steam if I was going to run into Mal Michael.
Do you have any fear on the field? I'd like to think not, but there's always places you don't want to get yourself into it, but if it's your turn to go, you definitely have to put your head over it.
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