Former Crows club champion Nathan Bock says he has no regrets in leaving the club for the Gold Coast
He may have left controversially, but Nathan Bock is looking forward to returning to his home state to play at the redeveloped Adelaide Oval as part of the All Stars in the EJ Whitten Legends Cup game.
HIS WAS one of the first in what would became a string of high-profile Adelaide Football Club players leaving West Lakes for other sides, but All-Australian defender Nathan Bock has no regrets about his 2010 defection to the Gold Coast Suns.
Speaking from the Gold Coast where he has lived since he moved there to join the club for their inaugural 2011 season, Bock said yesterday he stood by his decision to walk out on the Crows and become the Suns’ first big-name signing.
“I love it up here, with the lifestyle and all of those things have been really great,” he says.
“(But) there were a lot of challenges really early on with the Suns’ facilities and the structure of the footy department and the coaching staff, which you’re not really aware of before you make that decision to change clubs.
“I wouldn’t say we were sold into a fake sense of what was to come, but a lot of us were under the illusion that when the stadium was built, new facilities would come into place and unfortunately that wasn’t the case … the facilities were pretty much under par and not at the level of what particularly a start-up club should have been given.”
So would his decision-making have been different had he known?
“Well, that’s life, that’s football and we all make our decisions and we have to live by them,” he said. “I’ve got no regrets.”
Bock will return to Adelaide next week and play for the first time on the redeveloped Adelaide Oval as a member of the All Stars squad, which will take on Victoria in the annual EJ Whitten Legends Cup game.
Established in 1995, the EJ Whitten Cup honours the legacy of the late EJ Whitten, who died of prostate cancer. For the 2018 game, the foundation is teaming up with local charity, The Little Heroes Foundation, which supports seriously ill children and their families.
Crows premiership coach Malcolm Blight will be coaching the All Stars, while Terry Wallace will be in charge of team Victoria. The All Star’s three assistant coaches will be announced today (THURSDAY AUG 23).
Other members of the All Stars squad include Adam Cooney, Phil Matera and Tony Modra. While Tony Liberatore, Paul Dimattina and Matthew Primus are in the Victorian squad.
Bock, the 2008 Crows Club Champion, hasn’t played at lot of footy this year after spending the last three years as player/coach for the Southport Sharks in the North East Australian Football League.
But Bock admitted he was looking forward to putting on his boots again next week and running around with some of the greats, including former Adelaide teammate and friend Scott Thompson.
“I know it’s a pretty friendly game and proceeds go to a good cause … but at the end of the day we’re out there playing footy and you always want to win,” Bock said.
“I’m sure there’ll be a competitive element and nothing’s better than beating the Victorians.”
He’s been watching as his two former clubs have had difficult 2018 seasons, but was hopeful that the addition of Stuart Dew into the Gold Coast coaches box could trigger an on-field turnaround.
As for the Crows, Bock was in the crowd at the MCG on Grand Final day last year and watched on as his former team lost to Richmond.
“To not play finals after playing in a grand final would be very disappointing for them,” he said.
“But if you look at their list and the quality of players they’ve got, I think they’ll bounce back.”
Bock played 113 games for the Crows after being selected in the 2002 Rookie Draft, and a further 27 games for Gold Coast. He retired in 2014 after being unable to fully recover from a severely fractured leg sustained in 2012.
* The EJ Whitten Legends Cup, August 31 at Adelaide Oval, 7.25pm. Gates open at 5.515pm. Tickets through ticketek.com.au