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File this one under things I didn't expect, 5 years after he last played at senior AFL level. Good luck to him, hopefully he gets another shot at the big time.
File this one under things I didn't expect see, 5 years after he last played at senior AFL level. Good luck to him, hopefully he gets another shot at the big time.
File this one under things I didn't expect, 5 years after he last played at senior AFL level. Good luck to him, hopefully he gets another shot at the big time.
He had a real penetrating kick and he really built up his frame when he was with us. Good luck to him.
The lessons former Bulldog learnt as one of three “whipping boys”
Josh Carter (formerly Hill) admits there was plenty to learn from the outset of his time at the Western Bulldogs.
He was drafted by the Bulldogs in 2006 and arrived at the club from Western Australia as a skinny teenager.
The talented Claremont product quickly found out that life in the AFL was different to what he had experienced growing up as he went about embracing the challenges and expectations.
“You’d sign a contract and 100 per cent of your commitment is to the club,” he said on SEN’s The Macca’s Run.
“You could be out for dinner with your partner or with family and as soon as you get a text message saying there is an urgent meeting at the club, you’ve got to drop everything and get back there.
“That was the way it was. We were all given schedules and time sheets to what the week would look like and you’ve got to run by that.
“They were tough times but if anything it has helped me to become a stronger mindset player and a leader in my own way because of the challenges I was given.”
Carter said there were some important lessons learnt right from the beginning under Rodney Eade.
“It helped me be a bit better with time management because I was five minutes late to a meeting one time and ‘Rocket’ gave me a rocket, as he does,” he added.
“He made me do boxing sessions in St Kilda for a week at 6am and then join the rest of the team to top up with the rest of the training.
“I learnt pretty quickly not to be late to a meeting after that, that’s for sure.”
He says he was one of three “whipping boys” at the Dogs at the time, alongside Will Minson and Brian Lake.
The spray he copped was up there with the famous audio of Eade berating Minson.
“It was Will Minson areas,” he said.
“I think I copped most of the spray for Will.
“There were three whipping boys. There was Will Minson, Brian Lake and myself.
“I copped most of it because I picked the worst seat in the meeting room and that was right behind Brian Lake, or Brian Harris back in those days.”
The 66-game Dog, who also played over 100 games for West Coast, was so focused on making a good impression in the early days that calling in sick was never an option.
“I’ll be honest, in that time when I was starting off at the club, I was kind of too scared to be sick,” he said further.
“Because it was like you were taking a step back in terms of earning the respect of your coaches and the players. You want to work and drive to get noticed by the coaches but also every training session is like a moment where you prove to your teammates that you deserve to be out there.
“If you get sick or if you’ve got to go away for personal reasons, that’s like a huge step backwards in terms of losing that respect with the players. That was my mindset.
“Whereas these days you can speak more freely and open about your personal side of things. Back then I was too intimidated because of the people around me and the way Rocket went about his business, which was good, because it helped challenge me more to become a stronger mindset player.”
He would go on to spend five season in the red, white and blue before returning home to WA when traded to the Eagles prior to the 2012 campaign.
Carter, who played a total of 173 AFL games and kicked 226 goals over 11 seasons, spent 2022 as an assistant coach at VFL club Williamstown.
Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"
Says more about the ability of the leader to me if they have to scream at people to get them to engage.
Rocket the person and Rocket the coach who is not getting the results he wants are two very different people. Well known for having whipping boys which didnt work well back then and wouldnt work now. While he was tactically an excellent coach Im not sure what he was thinking when he tried to deny he made those terrible comments about Will Minson as a stitch up and then had to come clean. Like a fool I had given him the benefit of the doubt. I met him twice and he is a different person than as a coach.
Rocket the person and Rocket the coach who is not getting the results he wants are two very different people. Well known for having whipping boys which didnt work well back then and wouldnt work now. While he was tactically an excellent coach Im not sure what he was thinking when he tried to deny he made those terrible comments about Will Minson as a stitch up and then had to come clean. Like a fool I had given him the benefit of the doubt. I met him twice and he is a different person than as a coach.
I don't think that was his stance it's that the comments were all edited together from across an entire match. Eg Leon didn't ask him to be quiet for Rocket to apologize and agree before immediately losing his mind again.
I don't think that was his stance it's that the comments were all edited together from across an entire match. Eg Leon didn't ask him to be quiet for Rocket to apologize and agree before immediately losing his mind again.
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