The many faces of Fremantle star Nat Fyfe, his leadership idols and how he gives back
He might be a footballing God, but Nat Fyfe acknowledges he has “sharp edges”. With cues from some of footy’s — and the world’s — great leaders, the more mature dual Brownlow medallist is taking his teammates with him.
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The Oasis Hotel in the blink-and-you’ll-miss it wheatbelt town of Harrismith is a Fremantle stronghold.
Russell and Judy Gray’s pub features wall-to-wall Dockers memorabilia in a town with a population of 54 about three hours southeast of Perth.
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The walls of the weatherboard establishment festooned with images of Fremantle captain Nathan Fyfe, you would think it is the type of place the AFL pin-up boy would not be seen dead.
Not the kitesurfing, metrosexual, new-age dual Brownlow Medal-winning pin-up boy of the AFL.
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Certainly not the player who cites Barack Obama as a leadership idol and is establishing the kind of sponsorship and media portfolio that should make him a millionaire many times over.
Except, weeks ago, there was Fyfe knocking back a pot, shooting the proverbial with publican Gray.
The Fremantle captain might be typecast as many things, but the moment you want to put him into a box he shatters the perception.
Parents David and Christine Fyfe still run the family trucking business, Fyfe Transport, from nearby Lake Grace, and their son is not spared the heavy lifting.
“I was home on the weekend for a couple of days,” Fyfe says.
“My Dad needed a hand. My brother (Liam) was in one truck and I was in one, and Dad was in another.
“We are in a bit of a drought over here and Fyfe Transport looks after a lot of local towns, and Harrismith ran out of water and we took a load of water to the crew there.
“I know the local publican, Russell, who is a Fremantle supporter, and had a beer over the wood with him, so that was nice.
“That’s me at my authentic self and I don’t shy away from that or hide it.”
Fyfe might not have known it, but Gray is embarking on the kind of cancer battle that means the distraction could not have come at a more ideal time.
His wife, Judy, says Fyfe is exactly the kind of person to drop in for a quick jar over summer.
“I don’t think Nat would have known (about his health), but when I saw Russell afterwards, he had a big smile,” she says.
“He was rapt. Nat had called in a few times over the years and always missed him. He was very pleased.
“We are dedicated Docker fans. As soon as you walk into our pub you will see that.”
On face value that might seem the kind of manufactured anecdote designed to soften the perception of this AFL star.
Except categorising Nathan Fyfe, footballing god, is close to impossible.
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A softly spoken, considered interview subject who becomes a raging bull as soon as he crosses the white line.
The type of character who agrees to a James Bond-style photo shoot then with a wink observes that if his old man gets a hold of the photos he might kill him.
A 28-year-old who seems totally at home in his own skin even as he freely acknowledges he is far from everyone’s cup of tea.
As Fyfe observes, if he were an NBA point guard or NFL quarterback no one would ask him to change that individual streak.
But the role he has accepted with relish is Fremantle’s captaincy, and that means taking an entire playing group and club along with him for the journey.
He will end his career as an automatic Hall of Famer, but he will only end it a premiership star if he can also nail the leadership component.
Welcome to Fyfe’s world, where simply being one of the top three players in the game is not yet enough.
“I have got a few sharp edges. My personality type is such that it’s more task-focused and outcome-focused than sometimes people-focused,” he says.
“I am quite a driven individual.
“I really want to get the most out of my time as a footballer and, to this point, I have left no stone unturned in my preparation and performance, and sometimes that comes at the consequence of bringing others along with you.
“There are elements of my leadership and style that are great strengths, and some of those strengths can be weaknesses as well.
“So now it’s about opening the lens and dragging along as many people with me, pulling back from my own personal preparation and individual ambitions to try to be more inclusive.
“Part of that is maturity and having an awareness of how your actions affect other people, not changing who I am as a person.”
It is impossible to listen to Fyfe reflect on that challenge and not think of another young man a generation earlier.
Nathan Buckley spent years trying to win premierships through force of will at Collingwood, breaking or breaking through.
Fyfe chuckles at the comparison, preferring to see his leadership challenge through the prism of American sport.
“It’s a funny industry, the Australian sporting landscape. We are encouraged from a really early age to be team-first and not individually ambitious in a public setting,” he says.
“It’s quite different from countries like America, who really encourage players to go after individual performance, which brings team success.
“The way we do it is good, but that means athletes do not put themselves out there and go after as much as they are looked upon as not being team players or having ego involved or potentially being arrogant, so athletes like myself are constantly trying to juggle that.
“I am hoping now, going into my fourth season (as captain), that I can be less manufactured in my leadership and a little bit true to myself. You have to be patient and adjust your leadership style initially, but then as you start getting comfortable your true self subconsciously starts to shine through.”
Former Sydney captain Brett Kirk, a one-time Fremantle assistant, is a regular leadership sounding board.
“It’s people who are going to put a mirror up to me and get me to look internally,” he says of those who regularly hone his leadership credentials.
Fyfe loves Obama’s inclusiveness and strong messaging: “He is engaging when he speaks, is relevant and quite considered. People who choose their words wisely are the sort of people I am drawn to. My leadership will never be a chest-beating style.”
If he admits he is at times polarising, that streak of individualism is something the football world should celebrate in an era where few players feel free to show their true personalities.
Take Fyfe’s photo shoot that features in this magazine.
Take it as read Fyfe did not need his arm twisted too hard, as he was happy in September to replicate 2015’s shirt-off photo the night after the Brownlow while doing phone interviews.
“While you are in the mix you might as well front up and do a few of the things you will regret later in life,” he says, joking.
“Just make sure the old man in the truck doesn’t get a hold of the copy of this photo.
Hopefully you can put a good tan filter on it, that would be perfect.
“Pierce Brosnan was my favourite Bond and the Halle Berry episode (Die Another Day) is probably favourite. She is amazing and still in unbelievable nick.”
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A new-look Fremantle will have few outright spruikers this year, the Dockers still seen to be coming out of a rebuild that has many questions about personnel and player depth.
Ross Lyon was jettisoned as coach late last season as part of a refresh that saw him replaced by Collingwood assistant Justin Longmuir, with the club also turning over its chief executive Steve Rosich for former Western Bulldogs boss Simon Garlick.
And while the media loved his quirky turn of phrase and the fodder Fremantle’s struggles provided, few warmed to Lyon’s overly defensive game plan.
Fyfe is already forecasting a significant game plan overhaul for a side that scored 100 points three times in 2019 for an average of 72 points.
“For someone who has had the same coach for eight years, Justin brings with him a totally different look. Some of those things can be quite liberating. The way he looks at stoppages, the way he looks at scoring and defending is different,” the skipper says.
“It incorporates aspects he has learnt from other clubs and, for me, that’s exciting because those clubs (Collingwood and West Coast) have been successful quite recently.
“We will still have a defence-first mindset as pretty much all clubs do, but the way that is seen on-field will look slightly different.
“We will be a bit more free-flowing and we might get scored against in some areas, but the upside is we might be able to score more ourselves.”
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After 10 seasons, he believes he is better equipped to handle the attention that comes with holding aloft that precious medal in Grand Final week.
“I am hoping this time around I am more capable of handling it,” he says.
“Last time, after the Brownlow, I continued to put on weight. I came back quite heavy. What I thought in my head had won me the Brownlow was bullocking at the stoppages, and being untackleable and untaggable, and as a result I went into a weights program and ended up breaking my leg and missing the rest of the year and at the start of 2017 I was still scratchy.
“This year it will be more around longevity and also understanding that if we go into Round 10 and I haven’t quite got my best footy yet, I don’t need to be the best on ground to justify winning. I am aware I can just play my role.”
Another Brownlow Medal winner before him in Chris Judd was once asked about the advice he would impart to up and comers and his reply was to control your preparation.
In other words, do the work inside the club and then find out what works for you.
For Fyfe it is meditation and yoga, and also the pilates sessions with Fremantle expert Trudy McEntee that he credited in his Brownlow Medal speech.
McEntee’s treatment — two or three times a week for 90 minutes — focuses on core strength but also personal mantras that help him focus on key aspects of his performance.
So why was Fyfe so open to her overtures when footballers must receive dozens of unrequited offers of help?
“I was two weeks into an eight-week hamstring injury after playing pretty good footy in 2018, so I was in a bit of an emotional state and she arrived at the right time with the right message and offered me a different angle,” he says.
“Usually my natural bias is scepticism, so I went in with a sceptical mind and tried it out for a few weeks and started to find it worked on an emotional level as well as a physical level.
“Pilates is good but pilates with Trudy is what got me through last year.
“I have five or six other players coming along doing similar stuff. It’s like Fight Club. We don’t talk about it, that’s the first rule, but hopefully it will wield some results for those boys as well.”
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Originally published as The many faces of Fremantle star Nat Fyfe, his leadership idols and how he gives back
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