Fiora trades dismay for new ambition
October 21, 2004
St Kilda recruit Aaron Fiora is the first to admit he has not lived up to the expectations of those around him. Worst of all, he has not gone close to living up to his own.
Selected by Richmond at No. 3 overall in the 1999 national draft, the weight of expectation has rested rather heavily on Fiora's slender shoulders, and his lack of consistency was high on the list of reasons the Tigers saw him as disposable in the recent trade period to secure the services of Fremantle's Troy Simmonds in a three-way deal with the Saints.
"I don't think I have developed the way I wanted to," the 23-year-old said.
"I think I have got more to offer. I would have liked to have been a lot more consistent really, I just haven't been consistent in any year really. Yeah, it's disappointed me a lot actually."
While he admits many of his problems stemmed from his own frustration at being required to fill holes rather than being allowed to develop his own game and confidence in any given area, Fiora thinks a more settled position would have been more productive.
"You get injuries and stuff and they need something else up forward, or needed something else down deep in defence and I was sort of the guy who could do that a little bit," he said.
"And so I was sort of used as that and I got a little bit frustrated that I wasn't always playing in the one spot and doing my job.
"It was a bit mental, I suppose, I didn't cope with it very well and it affected my footy. I know you have to play all areas in footy, but I suppose I just wanted to get a bit settled."
Another thing Fiora found at Richmond was an unwritten hierarchy amongst the players that did not allow the younger players to challenge more senior players, even though he said the coaching staff encouraged them to do so.
"There was always encouragement for the young guys to voice up if they had something to say, but I think it was more a lot of the young guys at Richmond were aware of where their place was at, they felt like they hadn't been there long enough to have their say, that they didn't have the authority to say things - so they wouldn't," he said.
"So even though there was encouragement for it, the younger guys felt they hadn't been there long enough or it wasn't their place to have a go at someone for something, especially the older players. It should have happened, but it didn't, and I suppose that makes it harder for younger guys to mature."
Fiora is unlikely to have such problems at St Kilda, where coach Grant Thomas expects all players to take responsibility for the performance of teammates.
Not that the former Port Adelaide Magpies player will be expecting to waltz straight into a line-up that many see as being on the verge of a Brisbane-like dynasty at the top of the AFL ladder.
"It is going to be a big challenge just to get into the team because they are such a good team and I think they are pretty settled from last year, so it will be a tough one to crack," Fiora said. "But that's why I have come over as well; it's a good challenge and hopefully it works out.
"It's a whole new start and to try to get a bit of respect off the coaches and the players first of all. Yeah, it feels like I have been drafted all over again."
http://realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/10/20/1097951772544.html
