Crows wingman David Mackay says he has learnt to embrace the challenges on the road to 200 AFL games with Adelaide
WHEN David Mackay is not playing footy for Adelaide or at home playing dad to his two young children, he is back in the classroom teaching students about resilience - which he’s pretty well qualified to do.
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WHEN David Mackay is not playing footy for Adelaide or at home playing dad to his two young children, he is back in the classroom teaching students about resilience - which he’s pretty well qualified to do.
As he prepares for a major milestone in his football career on Saturday night, Mackay has spoken about the challenges he has faced in going from skinny draftee in 2006 to 200-gamer with the Crows 12 years later.
Hamstring, groin, concussion and shoulder injuries aside, Mackay has been constantly challenged by form, pressure and expectation which he admits he didn’t always cope well with.
But now at the age of 30, arguably the most diligent and professional player on Adelaide’s list, Mackay has learnt to embrace rather than dread being challenged to stand up and deliver.
“There’s been some fantastic moments but there’s also been some really difficult moments with injury, form, external pressure, internal pressure, expectation on yourself, it’s wide-ranging that you’re constantly challenged,” he said.
“It’s the one area now that I love but in the first half of my career I probably didn’t enjoy my time here as much as I could have, but I’ve really learnt to embrace the challenges and enjoy trying to get through those.
“You learn to get rid of the stuff that’s not important.
“You can get wrapped up in the negative a lot of the time and I felt I put a lot of pressure on myself and felt a lot of pressure externally and didn’t deal with that as well as I would have liked.
“To the point that looking back now I’d love to be in that position again with the knowledge I have now.
“I love playing the game, being part of a team and appreciate what’s important.”
It’s why a few years ago Mackay decided he didn’t need to be on social media. It doesn’t mean criticism from fans isn’t there, it’s just he is very selective as to what he absorbs.
“A number of years ago I felt that had the potential to impact in a negative way so I made a decision that I didn’t want to get involved in all types of media really,” he said.
“You don’t hear it but you know it’s going to happen.
“I didn’t feel it was going to help me in any way and people are so passionate about the game, they love our club and have an opinion but they’re not necessarily inside the four walls every day and understand the mechanics of how we play and individuals’ roles.
“I listen to my teammates and my coaches because they’re the ones who intimately know what we’re trying to do.”
That’s not to say Mackay hasn’t had the heat put on him by his teammates and coaches over the journey. But they haven’t questioned his toughness or physicality which isn’t always a trait among 78kg wingmen.
Against Melbourne in 2015 Mackay went back with the flight of the ball, tracking it at full pace and into oncoming traffic but never took his eye off it. Post-match the late Phil Walsh said “if you want toughness, watch what David Mackay did today”.
“That’s ultimate toughness in our game of footy for mine and I thought he set a great example,” Walsh said.
“I said to the guys at three quarter-time ‘did you just see what D-Mac did? If we can all emulate that in the last quarter we’re not going to lose that game’.”
Mackay is however better known for his hard-running and silky skills which came to the fore in last weekend’s Showdown when he hit three targets inside 50m in the final quarter to help win the game.
“They’ve (teammates and coaches) challenged me absolutely but I’ve wanted and needed that to keep trying to get better,” he said.
“There have been numerous times where I’ve had to respond in areas and I love that.”
Along with teammate Andy Otten, Mackay has started running a resilience program for high school students in Adelaide.
“It came out of our footy journeys and there’s been plenty of ups and downs for both of us,” Mackay said.
“We’ve been lucky to be part of a really supportive environment that has taught us the skills that when we are challenged, we’ve been taught how to deal with it and get better.
“It’s based around trying to help younger people who don’t have that experience yet to open their eyes to what they can do in times of adversity and challenge.”
When Mackay arrived at Adelaide as the No.48 pick in the 2006 national draft he gravitated towards Tyson Edwards who was the ultimate professional.
“He’s not a guy who said a lot but he was very professional and methodical with how he did things, you’d look at someone like him and Andrew McLeod was exactly the same in terms of their preparation.”
That instilled behaviours and work ethic that two years ago led to Mackay winning the Brian Sando Award for outstanding dedication and professionalism at the club.
But one of his earliest lessons came from development coach Alan Stewart who said ‘don’t sleep in’.
“Alan Stewart taught me very early on in my first year that coming late to training is not a wise move, and luckily I never learnt the hard way,” Mackay said.
“From the first day I came to the club my object was to be the best trainer I could.
“I’ve had to have that objective because I had a lot of work to do when I first arrived to get myself physically to the level that I needed to be at.
“Aerobically I was OK but from a strength and durability point of view, more so. I had a great first pre-season then missed nearly the whole year with hamstring injuries.
“So I had a lot of work to do physically to be able to compete week-in, week-out at AFL level.”
Away from football Mackay is a family man. He and wife have a four-month-old daughter Lucy and nearly two-year-old son Will who has a basic grasp of what Mackay does for a job.
“If he sees a game of footy on the TV he’ll point and say ‘daddy kick’ so he’s starting to pick it up,” Mackay said.
“It’s the best thing ever, everyone talks about the perspective it gives you and you really do learn what’s important.
“I love being at home with my wife and kids and I switch off, but then when it’s time to go to work I really embrace that.
“I absolutely love training and doing the work.”
On the club website he says his biggest break in life was “getting married”.
“Amazing, she’s (Sarah) been fantastic, she is from Melbourne as well and picked up her life and came over here and made a lot of sacrifices,” Mackay said.
“And we have a little family now and really love Adelaide, it’s been great.”
Mackay has had some time to consider what it will mean to play his 200th game against GWS in Canberra on Saturday night but he isn’t thinking about the finishing line just yet.
“It means a lot, when I first arrived my first goal was to play one game and you don’t look beyond that,” he said.
“I’ve been very lucky to be a part of this club for so long and couldn’t have dreamt of representing the club for 200 games, it’s been fantastic to me and my family and I have so many great memories and am still looking to create a few more.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au
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