One Sorry Season

[LostDoggy]

Emma Quayle

The Age 4th February 2012



WHEN Justin Sherman first moved to Melbourne he borrowed a car and set out on each afternoon off, exploring. He worked out where he wanted to live, found places to eat, some good spots to hang out and the easiest way to training with his new team, the Western Bulldogs. He wanted to know what the city felt like in the middle of winter, when it became absorbed in football, but he didn't plan to be the focus of all that talk. Not in the way he did, anyway, sitting at a media conference, surrounded by cameras, wishing he could shrink and asking himself why he'd done what he had just done.

In the days, weeks and months after he was suspended for racially vilifying Gold Coast teenager Joel Wilkinson, Sherman didn't want his teammates to ask him about what had happened. He still doesn't. He was still getting to know some of them, seven months after moving down from Brisbane, and wondered, in the back of his mind what they would be thinking. He sensed their sadness and disappointment, but he also felt supported by them, from the very start. He was sad, deeply disappointed by what he had said, and nervous about facing the camera. But he didn't want his teammates, still trying to keep their season ticking, to feel as if they had to look out for him, to be preoccupied by the ''massive mistake'' that he needed to come to terms with on his own.

''I had so many thoughts in my head, but it was all remorse. I was gutted, basically, gutted by what I'd done. I was sad about what I did. I didn't know why I did it,'' Sherman told The Saturday Age. ''Every feeling I had about it was bad, about what a big mistake it was and I didn't want to push that onto anyone around here. All the guys were so supportive, they all came up to see how I was going, but no one really spoke to me about what had gone on. And that was good. They all had their own things going on and I didn't want them to put that all on them. I knew I was the one who had to fix things.''

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[Go_Dogs]

Interesting read, thanks for sharing that.

It's a big year ahead for Sherman, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do.

[bornadog]

Has a huge upside and lots of potential, so looking forward to him contributing in 2012.

[Mantis]

So to top off a shocking year he finishes it off by getting the world's worst tattoo... Interesting.

Seriously that was a good read... gives a bit of insight into what makes him tick and like those before me I hope he can put it together in the years to come as we need his type to perform consistently.

[Dancin' Douggy]

I'm glad that he shares my opinion of him 'running around like a headless chook'.
At least he can admit it. Hopefully now he'll go on to bigger and better things.

[LostDoggy]

Is that bloke fighting out of his weight division or what?

Hello Mrs Sherman

[Mantis]

Is that bloke fighting out of his weight division or what?

Hello Mrs Sherman

Amongst other things isn't she the person responsible for ending Fev's AFL career.... or so the story goes.

[bornadog]

Amongst other things isn't she the person responsible for ending Fev's AFL career.... or so the story goes.

Fev did that all by himself.

[Sedat]

How hard would it have been for Sherman to wear a KooGa cap instead of a Blades one for the photo? Our chief apparel sponsor would be stoked to see one of their direct competitors get some free exposure

OK article but the timing could not have been worse coming up again the Jarrad McVeigh articles on the same day. By comparison, Sherman's issues pale into insignificance and look self-absorbed.

[Murphy'sLore]

Didn't read the McVeigh article because I'm only interested in the Bulldogs.

[Mantis]

OK article but the timing could not have been worse coming up again the Jarrad McVeigh articles on the same day. By comparison, Sherman's issues pale into insignificance and look self-absorbed.

This article was in Saturday's age.

The McVeigh one was in Sunday's HS.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

How hard would it have been for Sherman to wear a KooGa cap instead of a Blades one for the photo? Our chief apparel sponsor would be stoked to see one of their direct competitors get some free exposure

OK article but the timing could not have been worse coming up again the Jarrad McVeigh articles on the same day. By comparison, Sherman's issues pale into insignificance and look self-absorbed.

Not a fan of Sherman I take it?

[chef]

How hard would it have been for Sherman to wear a KooGa cap instead of a Blades one for the photo? Our chief apparel sponsor would be stoked to see one of their direct competitors get some free exposure

OK article but the timing could not have been worse coming up again the Jarrad McVeigh articles on the same day. By comparison, Sherman's issues pale into insignificance and look self-absorbed.

Do you think the article was his idea?

[immortalmike]

How hard would it have been for Sherman to wear a KooGa cap instead of a Blades one for the photo? Our chief apparel sponsor would be stoked to see one of their direct competitors get some free exposure

OK article but the timing could not have been worse coming up again the Jarrad McVeigh articles on the same day. By comparison, Sherman's issues pale into insignificance and look self-absorbed.

A self-absorbed footballer That's impossible I can't believe what I'm reading....

Seriously though, it's not like Sherman asked for the interview and even if he did it's not like he would have known about an article on McVeigh, printed the next day in a rival paper.

[Sedat]

This article was in Saturday's age.

The McVeigh one was in Sunday's HS.

Yeah my bad, I read both Satuday and Sunday papers last night for the first time. I still think the article looked a little 'poor me' compared to the McVeigh story, who has really endured personal tragedy and hardship. Whilst I'm not a fan of Sherman, I certainly don't doubt his sincerity in what he said in the interview, just that the timing was unfortunate in comparison with the McVeigh story.

What really annoyed me was the cap - some might see this as a minor issue but for mine KooGa are paying the club some serious coin and spending bucketloads kitting out the entire playing group and coaching staff head to toe in official Bulldogs gear, so it wouldn't have hurt Sherman to plonk on his official Bulldogs KooGa cap and polo for the photo shoot and support the company that is providing significant financial support to his key employer. Why give Blades (who are NM's on-field sponsor) such a blatant free kick?

PS - theimmortalmike, the McVeigh story was in both The Age and HS