Dylan Roberton has found his place at St Kilda and role as father of three children
DYLAN Roberton took a calculated risk when he moved from Fremantle to St Kilda and it’s paid off handsomely on the field and off for his young family.
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IT was 5.45am in Frankston when Dylan Roberton’s Easter Sunday began.
The sun was yet to rise and the St Kilda backman’s clash against Collingwood was still more than nine hours away.
But before “Robbo the rebounding defender” could begin mopping up the Magpies’ backline, he first had to deliver as “Dylan the dad”.
Roberton, 25, and wife Amy have three kids — Boston, 4, Henry, 3, and Pip, 2.
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Most blokes Roberton’s age would be closer to hitting the pillow rather than fluffing it at 5.45am on a Sunday, but fatherhood is already all Roberton can remember.
It’s been that way since 2012. After Roberton’s third season at Fremantle and with Amy pregnant, he requested a trade.
When that didn’t happen, the Frankston natives packed their bags and returned home anyway.
“I was pretty confident I was going to land at the Saints,” Roberton said this week.
“If I wasn’t confident then I would’ve stayed (a Docker) — I wouldn’t have taken the risk. It was too great to be starting a family and not have a job.
“It was still a bit of a roll of the dice, but it worked out. So when Boston was born I was still listed at Fremantle, but already living back in Melbourne.”
Roberton’s confidence stemmed from chats with Tony Michale, who coached him at East Perth before joining St Kilda under former mentor Scott Watters.
In a flash Roberton had gone from a 20-year-old living in Perth to back at home with a newborn baby.
Roberton was back at Frankston — now living around the corner from his childhood home — but with a new life.
Close by was his local club Frankston YCW, now coached by father-in-law Wayne Capp, and Saints training at Seaford was similarly in his backyard.
Watters lasted just one more season as Roberton rolled through four AFL coaches in as many years — Mark Harvey (2011), Ross Lyon (2012), Watters (2013) and Alan Richardson (2014).
And it was a frustrating start under Richardson for the young family man.
Before Richardson arrived, Roberton celebrated his 50th match against Richmond and took home two souvenirs.
One was a signed game ball from the 64-point defeat and the other was a bung ankle after landing on Tiger Daniel Jackson.
Roberton needed rest. Problem was, the next week was a return to Perth to face his old side — a game long pencilled in the fixture.
“If we weren’t playing Fremantle I probably would’ve had the week off,” he said.
“Looking back now, when I first injured it I should’ve taken a couple of weeks off and it would’ve been fine.”
Roberton played out the year trying to impress his new teammates and was then booked in for surgery to remove scar tissue.
It didn’t work and 2014 became “disastrous” as he played just seven AFL games and witnessed the birth of his second son.
“I couldn’t really get out on the park and was a bit of a liability for the team,” Roberton said.
“I just wasn’t able to run or jump or land. It was pretty restrictive, I could only really jog around.
“I was pretty stubborn and told (the Saints) I wanted to keep playing and earn my spot in the ones.
“I’d have a couple of weeks off to get it right and then play a good game in the twos, but then playing that good game would stir it up and it’d be really sore by the time I got back in the ones.
“The club would’ve been really frustrated at that. At the end of 2014 I went and got another clean out and it worked the second time and I haven’t had any problems since.”
Richardson had sympathy. A similar injury restricted him back in the 1990s.
The second bout of surgery did the trick and, in his eighth season on an AFL list, Roberton — the game’s most successful delisted free agent — is now flying.
The blossoming leader and future coaching aspirant cut up the Magpies with 32 disposals after his early alarm last week, adding a sense of adventure to his game with the defensive support of Jake Carlisle and Nathan Brown.
It is the first time he has been able to complete every midweek training session and the hybrid defender is now striving to improve his intercept game, in the same vein as Elliot Yeo and Jeremy McGovern.
But when Roberton wakes on Sunday the likes of Tom Hawkins, Harry Taylor and Steven Motlop will be the furthest thing from his mind.
“A lot of blokes’ struggle is they overthink and they think about the game before they’ve even got there,” Roberton said.
“Having the kids at home, I don’t have that. I’ve got to get up and do what they’re used to, because it’s important for them to have a routine.
“By the time they’re set and ready to take the day on I can sort of start to prepare and get ready and head to the ground. I think it works really well.
“It keeps my mind off it and when I’m ready to go I switch on.”
Boston, Henry and Pip all joined Roberton to break the banner in his 100th game last year in a special moment for the family.
Could there be a fourth child should he crash through for a 150th appearance?
“We’ve got two boys and a girl, so once we had the girl we decided to stop,” Roberton said with a smile.
Originally published as Dylan Roberton has found his place at St Kilda and role as father of three children
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