Ash: The camps are a part of the job. You have to get out there and do it. I know as a young kid growing up in a tiny town in country WA the buzz that I got, and the whole town got, when some AFL players dropped in. That’s exactly why we do it. It will be interesting with all the floods up in the north – we might be going out to our schools visits in boats. It know people talk about Townsville being rugby league heartland, but I went up there for an Indigenous Camp last year and the reception we got was great.
G’day Ash, Have you heard how ‘Hads’ is going at Carlton and what will it be like playing against him? – Steve from Traralgon
Ash: Me and Hads do keep in touch – as you probably know, we came up through the ranks in WA together and we lived in the same place for the first year we were up here in Brisbane. It was a bit sad having him leave. He was a really good club person, so we miss having him around the place. I wish him good luck, but it’s game on when he’s wearing an opposition jumper.
How is Nigel coping with being the oldest player on the list? – Richo from Browns Plains
Ash: I don’t really know. He still rocks up to training pretty grumpy, which has been normal from the time he started here. I s’pose the day he rocks up with a smile on his face is the day he’ll retire. So we hope he stays grumpy for a long time yet!
Hi Ashley. I’m looking forward to see the team at Carrara again in a couple of weeks for the NAB Cup. Does the team like playing down here? - Joelene from Runaway Bay
Ash: It certainly doesn’t bother us playing on the Gold Coast. We don’t have to travel, so that’s always a good thing, especially if we would otherwise be playing interstate somewhere. There’s a lot of support for AFL with all the ex-pats from Melbourne on the Coast, so it’s good to be there if its taking travel out of the equation.
Hey Ash. Which young guys should we look out for this year?
Ash: I think the blokes you really want to keep an eye on are the ‘young’ blokes coming back from injury. Braddy and Anthony Corrie seem really hungry and so does our recruit Trav Johnstone from Melbourne.
