Matthew Pavlich’s advice to AFL’s draftees ‘don’t waste a minute’

MUCH has changed in the 19 years since Matthew Pavlich first pulled on the boots but despite the evolution of social media, online gambling and drugs, Pavlich says his advice remains the same.

Matthew Pavlich in action for Fremantle.

MUCH has changed in the 19 years since retired great Matthew Pavlich first pulled on the boots for Fremantle.

Back then he didn’t even have a mobile phone.

But despite the dramatic evolution of social media, online gambling and recreational drugs, Pavlich says his advice for the latest crop of draftees remains the same.

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“Don’t waste a minute” and “have a good bulls..t filter”.

The former Fremantle skipper spoke to more than 100 draftees at the AFL Player Association’s induction camp in Melbourne last week and encouraged them to “embrace what is a pretty sacred life”.

“It can be all encompassing, it can be challenging, but in the context of other work life it is the best time of their lives. And it’s the life of the privileged in many ways,” he said.

The AFL’s latest batch of draftees at the induction camp. Picture: Eugene Hyland

“I think sometimes the best way for that message to come through is for those guys to speak to their mates they went through school with.

“You know, ‘what are you doing? How are you going at university? How’s it in 40-degree heat out in a trench?”

“Sometimes the people you grew up with and you are really close with can be a good sounding board.”

In his early playing career Pavlich was spared constant social media scrutiny, but the PA president said it was “too simplistic” to ban players from platforms such as Twitter.

“There’s plenty of restrictions on players as it is,” he said.

AFLPA president Matthew Pavlich at the new AFL pay deal announcement. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

“Social media is a way for them to engage, firstly with their mates and close friends, but also with a broader network of people following them.

“For us at the PA, it’s really about education and building resilience and, this is something that I think is one of the most important things, building an identity that isn’t all about football.”

AFL PA’s general manager of player development Brett Johnson said AFL players were under greater scrutiny and pressure to perform than ever before, but he baulked at suggestions to cut them off them from social media.

“It’s more about education and also about the way you behave off the field shouldn’t be any different to the way you behave online.”

Originally published as Matthew Pavlich’s advice to AFL’s draftees ‘don’t waste a minute’