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AS strange as it may sound, Tom Boyd is thankful for it now.

He’s not talking about the premiership medal that came earlier than expected, or the game-defining goal he kicked with only five minutes of play left in the Grand Final, or even his highly-rated performance that had some suggesting he was stiff in the Norm Smith Medal voting.

He’s referring to the cacophony of criticism that has followed him ever since he signed a speculative $6 million seven-year-deal with Western Bulldogs in late 2014.

That external heat was more searing this year than it had been in his first year at the club. The source of it was his modest pre-finals form, an off-field altercation with teammate Zaine Cordy in June that saw the Bulldogs impose a suspension on him, and as the headline fodder focused on him, calls from Cameron Mooney and others for him to consider taking a pay cut.

“Perhaps it wouldn’t have turned out anywhere near like it did if that sort of thing (the criticism) didn’t happen,” a reflective Boyd suggested.
As Luke Darcy might have pondered ... Say that again?
Is Boyd partly crediting the criticism for the turnaround in his on-field fortunes? In a sense, he is, saying facing those obstacles made him more resilient to everything else he had to encounter.

“Looking back, the main thing I took out of the situation was that it was an extremely humbling experience not only playing in a successful team, but also having to learn from mistakes that I have made,” he said.
“All I was thinking about throughout the back end of the year was to try and help make the team better. From that aspect, I think it was a turning point in my mindset.

“In terms of learning from it, and sort of owning the situation, it was a great moment for me.
“It was less to do with any specific incident; it was more to do with myself as a person, and maturing into a man and a footballer. I hadn’t even turned 21 until the middle of the year.
“I learnt as much as I ever have last year, and that was evident with a lot of the guys throughout the year and the way they displayed resilience and their ability to deal with adversity.”

At no stage did Boyd feel compelled to bite back at the critics, or use the premiership podium to yell “You were wrong” as Port Adelaide’s Mark Williams famously did back in 2004.

That’s never been his style. He lets his football do the talking, and in the last two weeks of the AFL season, his performances were every bit as audible as the crowd noise in both games.

There was his stand-alone ruck role against Greater Western Sydney’s Shane Mumford, after Jordan Roughead was benched with an eye injury, and then his Grand Final heroics when he kicked three goals, took six contested marks and came of age on the biggest stage.

None of the critics called him to say they were wrong ... he doesn’t expect them to, and says that’s the furthest thing from his mind.



He’s a premiership player and well regarded internally at the Bulldogs, and that’s all that matters.
The only thing that he found frustrating was when people questioned his character, particularly after the incident with Cordy midyear.

“The hardest thing for me to reconcile with was all the questions about my character that people were throwing out there,” he said. “A lot of people knew they weren’t true.
“It is their prerogative what they want to report. But ultimately I had a good record in the way my parents have brought me up to be polite and humble. I try sort of envisage that at every turn.

“The only thing you can do is turn to your family and your friends and the footy club in general, and really sort of internalise your inner circle. You have to try to put everything that is happening around you into context and understand the perspective other people have without letting it get you down.”

Given what Boyd has been through in his three seasons of AFL football — the journey the one-time No.1 draft pick has had from Eastern Ranges to Greater Western Sydney and onto the Western Bulldogs — it is easy to forget he is still 21 for another eight months, and has played only 38 AFL games.

Whatever he does in the future will never alter his importance in helping the Bulldogs break a 62-year premiership drought, particularly one of the clutch moments of the match.

It came at the 21-minute-mark of the last term as he pounced on a ball that had spilt from Dale Morris’ big tackle on Lance Franklin. Boyd didn’t hear the whistle signalling a free kick, pounced and then pounded a long goal from well outside 50m to give his team a 15-point lead.



“I didn’t find out until Mad Monday that it was actually holding the ball (free kick to Morris),” Boyd laughed. “I had no idea, as it was so loud out there.
“At the time I looked up and there was an open goal square. People have asked me if I was surprised that it went through. I was surprised that it bounced vertically, as I kicked it that hard, I thought it was going go straight through, making me wait and adding to the suspense.

“It was the highlight of my career and I was happy I could put a goal through in a game when it was necessary and really needed.”
Liam Picken ran to him seconds after the goal, to tell him to stay focused.
“I spoke to Picko about it after the game, and he said ‘Look, we had just worked too hard and come too far to let anything slip’,” Boyd said. “That was just the attitude we showed all day.”

The fact Boyd got to end a year that had so many highs and a few lows celebrating a premiership with his family made everything worthwhile.

“Mum and Dad ride the emotions of footy like I do, but they take everything more personally,” he said. “That’s the nature of parenthood. They have been a terrific support network for forever and a day, and I was so happy that I could pinch a few moments of real bliss and enjoyment after the Grand Final.”

Now he has his sights on more success, mindful that nothing is ever certain, and it will take even more hard work to make it happen again.




The addition of Travis Cloke and the return of Stewart Crameri in attack only strengthens the Dogs’ forward line, and Boyd is looking forward to working with both.
“I had some big steps forward in my development, playing that ruck-forward role and really sharing a strong partnership with ‘Roughy’,” Boyd said.

“That’s the place where I feel most comfortable and that’s probably where I can add the most value for the team.”
Boyd knows he has set a new benchmark of performance, and realises the critics will be back for more if he can’t deliver on that.

But that just makes him “super excited” and hungrier to tackle the challenges undoubtedly ahead.