The Tackle: Marlion Pickett returns to Richmond hellbent on picking-up career derailed by coronavirus.Mark Robinson
Herald-Sun
11 May 2020The Book of Marlion is ready for its next chapter. Arguably the greatest story of football’s grandest day returns to Richmond to restart a career that so far has yielded just two games. The first was the 2019 Grand Final in front of 100,000 fans. The second was Round 1, 2020, in front of zero fans. Then the virus arrived and Marlion Pickett’s remarkable football adventure was grounded.
The 28-year-old father of four, who was THE story of Richmond’s 2019 premiership team, was suddenly and painfully just another dad without an active job trying to make ends meet in an uncertain world. It isn’t so much a prince-to-pauper tale, but this season was supposed to be so different. Only six months before, Pickett was judged third best on the ground in the Grand Final win. He earned $50,000 for his truncated season.
The Norm Smith Medal winner was Dustin Martin. He earned in the vicinity of $1.2 million. This year, if Pickett played 22 games, his salary would have ballooned to about $230,000. Instead, without match payments — thought to be about $5000 per game — he is on the base rookie salary of $85,000.
That’s been cut by 50 per cent, meaning, when you crunch the numbers for the past six weeks, he has received a couple of thousand dollars a month, the same as the JobKeeper allowance.
Pickett’s manager Anthony Van Der Wielen said the low-end players in the AFL have been crippled by the salary squeeze and that while Pickett’s legacy moment — the blind turn — is being used to promote the return of the multimillion-dollar industry called football, his client is barely keeping his head above water. “You can’t turn on a television at the moment without seeing Marlion’s image,’’ Van Der Wielen said.
He is not whingeing, more emphasising the extraordinary journey of his player. We know the story.
Recruited in the mid-season draft by the Tigers, Pickett made his AFL debut on Grand Final day. He was 27. “Marlion’s handled it better than anyone else I know would’ve handled it and that’s because he’s come from fairly humble beginnings and he doesn’t want or need for a lot,’’ Van Der Wielen said.
“He’s more worried about everybody else and how they’re going than how’s he going. That’s Marlion’s way.
“I’ve been involved with Marlion at South Fremantle and that’s the way he is. He’s as tough as they come. He’ll get through. He and his family will get through, don’t ask me how, but they will.’’
This next period is crucial to Pickett’s future at Punt Rd. Manager and club have already spoken of a contract for the 2021 season, when Pickett would be elevated to the senior list, but that also is on hold. The length of — and financial reward within — that contact depended on Pickett’s performance this year.
“I’ve got open dialogue with Richmond, they love him to death and they want him to stay long-term,’’ Van Der Wielen said. “We were just going to wait and see how his form went through the year and that would’ve dictated a contract. “But the AFL is not allowing us to negotiate contracts at the moment. There’s a ban on everything. I understand why, but it’s just an anomaly in the system. “It’s not an easy set of circumstances, but I’m pretty confident it will all iron out by the end of this season, when we can get to a situation where we can put a contract in place.
“Marlion and Richmond are quite keen to do something. “Richmond has been excellent through this period.’’
For Pickett, his life has presented more hurdles than most others. This simply is another one. “This is an obstacle I guess, but the future is still bright and rosy for him,’’ Van Der Wielen said. “He’s had more obstacles than most of us have had. “He will take this in his stride. He’s an amazing man and I know everyone at Richmond feels the same about him. “His humbleness and his resilience and his hardness — he’s a role model for his people and for anyone who’s come against the obstacles in life like Marlion has.’’
When the AFL shut down and the country went into lockdown, Pickett and partner Jess and their kids returned to Western Australia. Most of the other “low-end paid’’ players, who are generally aged between 18 and 21, either headed home to mum and dad, or they bunked with a mate or a teammate.
The Picketts moved into a house at Harvey, a famous beef farming town about two hours southwest of Perth. There they isolated and were joined by Jess’s sister. After three weeks, Pickett moved the family back to Perth to stay with his mum and dad. All up, there was eight of them.
Today, they return to Melbourne, to their rented house in Thornbury. Three of his kids will return to Thornbury Primary School when the government allows and Pickett will start training — again, when the government allows.
Van Der Wielen said Pickett just wants football back and that the accrued fame from what played out on Grand Final day last year had not changed him. “He’s just the same bloke, there’s no change to him whatsoever,’’ he said. “He doesn’t love the fame at all. I wouldn’t say he’s uncomfortable with it, but he’s not the type who basks in it.
“He likes to play footy and he likes to be with his family and they’re pretty much the two things he likes to do and that’s all he does. “He trains. He goes home. He’s very much a hands on parent, both him and Jess.
“He doesn’t drink. On Grand Final night, he was sitting there drinking water and he just couldn’t wait to get home to see the kids.’’
Still, fame can’t be ignored.
Van Der Wielen has been approached by a publisher and been introduced to an author and the plan is to have a book written about Pickett, which will be available to the public by Christmas. “It won’t be just a football book,’’ the manager said.
“It will be about the trials and tribulations of the Marlion Pickett story, what he went through in his upbringing, his time in jail, his family, his kids. The Grand Final will be the culmination.’’ Or maybe it won’t. The Book of Marlion might have another couple of chapters — yet to be determined.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/the-tackle-marlion-pickett-returns-to-richmond-hellbent-on-picking-up-career-derailed-by-coronavirus/news-story/863ad5c9a015f0c77ffd4ec16f721a55
