By Jennifer Witham
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FOR ALMOST two months late last year, Ed Barlow was left to contemplate whether his chance to forge an AFL career might have been gone.
The Sydney Swans, the club he'd spent five years at and played 26 games for, had just delisted him and he was unsure about what was ahead.
After spending three weeks abroad, starting with a visit to Vancouver to attend former teammate Mike Pyke's wedding, followed by a tour of San Francisco, Las Vegas, Arizona and Los Angeles with retired Swan Henry Playfair, he returned to Australia and faced the possibility his window of opportunity had closed.
He knew he still wanted to play football, and packed up his Sydney life and moved to Melbourne to live with his parents and brother in a small Hawthorn apartment.
He worked for a mate in the shed business, but admitted he "wasn't his best worker", and thought long and hard about what he could do with his partially finished exercise science and psychology degree.
Then, when the Western Bulldogs asked him to come down and train with them shortly before they headed to New Zealand for a pre-season adventure camp in early December, things started to change.
"I thought it was over. You don't really realise it's over until it's over. I was fine with it but it wasn't until I was told I was going to be delisted, it really hit home," Barlow told westernbulldogs.com.au this week.
"I thought, 'Would I really be happy if my AFL career finished right now?' And I guess looking back now, I wasn't happy with that.
"It was just a massive relief to get another chance."
Barlow impressed the Bulldogs during training, and was given that chance in mid-December when they called his name with selection No.55 in the 2011 NAB AFL Rookie Draft.
His girlfriend Lindsay moved to Melbourne, they found a place in Fitzroy Street, and he started phase two of his AFL career after it had appeared all but over just a few months before.
"I knew the Bulldogs were interested but I didn't want to get my hopes up in case nothing happened," Barlow said.
"The club was really good and they were really honest with what they were thinking about the rookie draft.
"Then coming here, I knew this would be a big year for me and I did need to play."
The delisting hadn't come as a surprise. Barlow knew the conversation with John Longmire, who was poised to take over as coach at the end of last season, was nigh, and had even asked for a trade as he had sensed his time at the club was up.
"It was my fifth year there and I'd just played the one game against Geelong and I didn't do well," he said.
"I'd be stupid if I said I didn't see it coming. When I did my hammy the second time and they ruled me out for the season, I knew it would be hard to get another contract.
"Even if I did, I had started to think it was time to move on."
Barlow admitted his hope dropped after he attracted little interest in trade week, and then after he was passed up at the NAB AFL Draft in November.
Looking back now, he believes that was all a blessing in disguise, landing on his feet at the Bulldogs and playing a role on the wing after his elevation to the senior list last month.
"I think the secret for me is that I don't ever get too complacent. I don't ever get happy where I am and I just take it week by week," Barlow said.
"I just try and play my role for the team and I think I've been doing that and it's been going well.
"I don't want to do anything out of the ordinary; I just want to do my bit for the team and hopefully get us the win."
When Barlow arrived at Whitten Oval, he was instantly surrounded by familiar faces.
There was assistant coach Paul Williams, who was in his last year at the Swans when Barlow started his career, and former teammates Barry Hall and Patrick Veszpremi.
There was also Nathan Djerrkura, with whom he had boarded along with Hawthorn forward Cyril Rioli. Melbourne midfielder James Strauss and Swans defender Nick Smith were also there in his senior years at Melbourne's Scotch College.
While Barlow spent a large part of his teenage years in Tathra, a seaside town in New South Wales' Bega Valley Shire - hence his nickname of 'Cheesy' - his childhood was based in Melbourne.
It was this that made him want to return to Victoria after his career at the Swans ended, and to join his parents who had also moved south to enhance their career prospects.
Barlow admitted he felt "at home" in Melbourne, and largely the same at Whitten Oval.
And, as for suggestion he and dreadlocked speedster Luke Dahlhaus have played a large part in the Bulldogs' resurgence, having brought a new kind of energy to the team since their debuts in rounds 12, Barlow is reluctant to take any personal credit.
"I'd like to think I've tried but little Dal definitely has with his speed and pressure, and he's playing some really good football," Barlow said.
"I'm just really enjoying the wing and playing at half-forward, running up and running back.
"With that, the confidence is growing a bit each week and that helps.
"The main thing is I'm just enjoying it, up until I did my finger [against Melbourne last week], just with the way things are going but I won't be complacent and I want to make sure I stay hungry."
Barlow is hopeful he will miss just one game with the finger he fractured against the Demons, which required a minor operation on Monday to reinforce the bone.
