Darcy Fogarty, Will Gould and Lachie Neale are back on their family farms during the AFL’s coronavirus shutdown
Darcy Fogarty, Will Gould and Lachie Neale give us a run down of their typical day on the farm during the AFL shutdown, and say it’s been a reminder of how lucky they are to be playing footy for a living.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
ON A normal Monday morning Darcy Fogarty and Will Gould would be up early and nursing a few sore spots from the weekend, make their way to footy training in Adelaide and Sydney.
Two of the most promising young South Australians in the AFL, Fogarty and Gould were only just embarking on their AFL careers when the coronavirus brought the competition to a sudden stop after Round 1.
So instead they have been back on their family farms which are roughly 40km apart on either side of Lucindale, a tiny town in the state’s south east where the population is just a few hundred people.
But while so much of life as they have come to know it has changed, in many ways their routine has not.
Last Monday they were still up early only instead of footy boots they reached for their work boots, and instead of getting their hands dirty on the field they were doing it with manual labour on the farm.
And the past two weeks has given them an even greater appreciation for what they do have when life returns to normal and they are playing footy in a professional capacity again.
Gould, 19, won a SANFL premiership with Glenelg last year before embarking on his first pre-season with the Swans over summer after they selected him with Pick No.26 in the national draft.
He wasn’t picked in their Round 1 team and a planned practice match with GWS was cancelled so he and teammate Dylan Stephens both flew home to South Australia and Gould then drove to the family’s sheep and cattle farm at Lucindale the following morning.
The farm has been in the family for more than four generations and Gould has been put to work, feeding out hay, fixing fences and delivering calves which he says would be an eye opener for some but has become part of his life growing up.
“I’m very lucky to have a family farm to come back to, lucky but unlucky because dad has put me to work,” Gould said.
“I was doing a bit of uni last year so I would have gone on with that to see where it took me (if I wasn’t drafted), the farm is good fun and I love getting back to help out, but day-in, day-out as I’ve found out the last few weeks is pretty tough.
“I’m checking around all the cows because it’s calving season, feeding out hay, fixing up gates, a bit of everything really.
“There’s a lot of early mornings and most of the time it’s knock off around 3pm or 4pm but if something goes wrong or you’ve got to pull a calf then I could get home at 6pm.
“Most of the cows will have them fine on their own but the ones that struggle we get them up to the yard and pull them ourselves.
“It’s normal or me now and everyone else but people who haven’t seen that sort of thing before it’s a bit different.”
The Swans gave Gould a five-week fitness program to follow during the indefinite break which he is so far ticking off.
“Running, a few off-leg sessions like the bike and boxing, and a bit of gym as well,” Gould said.
“I’ve got a boxing bag which is pretty handy otherwise my little brother (15) would be copping a bit of a flogging I think.”
Across the other side of Lucindale, Fogarty, 20, is on his mum’s partner’s sheep and cattle farm where his typical day starts at 7.30am and ends at 5.30pm.
This season was going to be Fogarty’s breakthrough year in the AFL, having been made to bide his time for 14 games in the two previous seasons.
It may well still turn out to be his big year if or when the competition resumes, after he made a promising start with a goal and took several strong marks against the Swans in Round 1. But right now he’s fitting in footy training with his step brother around a day’s work on the farm.
“They’ve put us to work so it’s been flat out at the moment,” Fogarty said.
“We’re feeding hay, marking calves and shearing so it’s pretty full on.
“It’s good to get back and get a bit of a reality check I guess, it’s been pretty hard working down here so it makes you appreciate a little bit more what we have going when it’s up and running.”
Fogarty has been into town for a kick on the Lucandale Oval and says he’s maintaining his running training.
“Lucindale is pretty quiet as it is but I think people on the weekends and Tuesdays and Thursday’s don’t have footy to look forward to, and with no sport on, the kids aren’t running around the parks or the oval,” he said.
“I’ve got my step brother here so we’ve had a few runs and a kick together, it’s only half-an-hour into town so not too bad and some of the sessions have been pretty solid.
“I think I’ll head back to Adelaide on the weekend and get into more of a routine so I can knuckle down with training as we get closer to a potential return date.”
About 45-minutes drive east from Fogarty and Gould in Lucindale has been Brisbane Lions star Lachie Neale on his family farm at Kybybolite.
Neale played Hawthorn on the Sunday afternoon of Round 1 and had a meeting at the club on Monday to discuss the competition’s shutdown.
With SA announcing it would close its borders from the Tuesday afternoon, Neale and his wife Jules got straight in their car with their dog and drove 2000km to the farm before the lockdown took affect.
But Neale’s trip home has been more than just work, he’s also been fishing for callop in the dam with his brother and playing netball with his sister.
“We had to make the decision (to drive to Kybybolite) pretty quick but it gave us something to do I guess, there’s a bit more to do here on the farm,” Neale said.
“Obviously you can still go for walks in the city but there are a few more activities out here, I’ve been fishing and hunting with my little brother and we brought the dog as well and he’s loving it. He’s a five-month-old border collie so he’s been exploring around here and enjoying himself.
“It’s good fun to chuck a lure in the dam and see if we can catch a few.
“It certainly does take your mind off things a fair bit, but there are times you reflect on what’s going on and I wish I was back in Brissy and preparing for another game - I think we would have been playing Adelaide on the weekend actually.”
Neale, who won Brisbane’s best-and-fairest last year, had a sore foot after the Round 1 loss to Hawthorn so took it easy with training for the first week of the lockdown.
“I’ve got a couple of footballs here and a took some bands to do a bit of bodyweight stuff, so that’s helped, but I’ve got a little issue with my foot so I’ll try and go for a trot tomorrow and see how it pulls up,” he said.
“It come out of the Hawthorn game so I’m giving it a rest for a couple of weeks.
“I miss footy and training and the boys but your mind is distracted most of the time out here which is good.
“The (local) oval is looking in pretty good nick so I’ve been down there a couple of times, haven’t had a kick yet but my sister likes playing netball so I’ve been there with her.
“It’s disappointing that all the footy has been shut down but obviously it’s more important to keep healthy and everyone safe at the moment.
“It’s going to be a bit different for everyone here, they wouldn’t have not had footy for who knows how long, but everyone is in the same boat couped up at home not just the footy community but everyone.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au