Ben McEvoy has a different perspective on life and footy
BEN McEvoy was a confessed “stress head” at St Kilda and the negative thoughts in his mind affected his footy but changes in his life have brought about a new perspective.
Hawthorn
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BEN McEvoy was a confessed “stress head”.
He carried that burden through six seasons at St Kilda as well as the early part of his career at Hawthorn, which included premiership campaigns in 2014 and 2015.
The ruckman would stew over pre-game preparation and match-up requirements, to the point where it sometimes altered his sleeping patterns and clouded his mindset.
During the course of games, he would frequently dwell on mistakes rather than the good things he managed to do.
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Post-game, he would often over-analyse and carry those negative thoughts deep into the next week.
“It was just the way I was,” McEvoy explained this week.
“I was a stress head early in my career ... well, in fact, for most of my career.”
“It doesn’t really matter what you are anxious about, stress takes a lot of energy out of people.
“The more stressed and worried you are about things, the less you are able to deal with the job you are meant to be doing.”
Then almost two years ago, he came to a realisation at a juncture in his life when things were about to change anyway.
Thankfully, his plan to take a more level approach to his football — with less stress — has resulted in the richest form of his AFL career.
It has also helped him contribute to the current renaissance period for AFL ruckmen, along with the likes of Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy, West Coast’s Nic Naitanui and Melbourne’s Max Gawn.
Part of the change was organic.
He and his wife, Nicki, welcomed son, Angus, into the world in the last round of the 2016 season. The pair are now expecting a second child, in June, on the same day as teammate Paul Puopolo and his partner are expecting their own child.
“Clarko would be nervous about that one,” the 28-year-old said with a smile.
“There is no doubt having a kid helps, it brings better perspective. My footy has only got better since Angus has come along. Certainly things changed in my life at the end of 2016, and that was a pivotal point.
“But I also got to an age where I came to the realisation that (stressing) wasn’t helping me. It took me a long while to work out the approach I needed to play my best footy.”
That change over the past year and six rounds largely came back to his own mechanisms to push the negatives from his mind quicker than he has done in the past.
He credit ruck coach Damian Monkhorst for the calmness he has brought to him, and the club for first chasing him as a trade option when he had been touted as a future St Kilda captain in late 2013, and for then allowing him to become the player he is today.
He also says his wife has important input, thanks to her unwavering belief in him.
McEvoy knows AFL is a game that moves at breakneck speed, and he needed to take a lead from that. He still puts in the same level of preparation and effort - if not more - but makes sure he moves on from one game to the next much faster than before.
“There is a lot we don’t understand about our subconscious ... (about) what happens on the surface affects what happens underneath,” he said.
“So if you are not controlling what goes on on top, then it is a problem.
“Now, pretty simply, I do some set visualisations leading up two days before a game to help me relax. That way I know I have done the preparation, then I can relax a bit after that.”
Whatever he is doing is working. McEvoy had an outstanding 2017 season, finishing second to Tom Mitchell in the Crimmins Medal.
He has carried that form into 2018, playing a key role in the Hawks’ early season revival which faces its next test against old rivals Essendon at the MCG today.
McEvoy scoffs at suggestion he has played a role in helping to make the art of ruck work “sexy”again: “I’ve never thought of it like that; I am sure that doesn’t apply to me.”
“(The talk of a renaissance) has probably been overplayed a bit.
“The environment has changed a bit. When I started playing 10 years ago, there were two ruckmen. People are getting carried away today about how many touches some of the (ruckmen) are getting, but if you looked back, you tended to have two ruckmen getting 10 to 15 touches each. Now you have one guy playing the role and maybe getting 20.”
The competition-wide trend towards one genuine ruckmen - and a pinch-hitter to help out - has suited the combative way McEvoy goes about it. He thrives on hard work — not surprising from the son of a farmer who is now a farmer himself.
McEvoy’s background has shaped his footy life.
Growing up on the family’s cattle and sheep farm at Dederang, he only saw farming and football as his future. So, it has followed.
He has now played 174 AFL games and in two months he will have played as many games for the Hawks as he did for the Saints.
He and Nicki have 800ha near Stawell, where they grow canola, wheat, oats and barley, with the prospect of sheep added to the equation in the future.
While he pursues his football dream in Melbourne, he gets back to the property whenever he can, and is ably assisted by his neighbours — sister Kate and her husband Paul — who look after the crops.
“It’s a balancing act,” he said.
“Nicki has been great, she has always supported me.
“It’s a bit of a mad house at the moment, with footy, and a nearly two-year-old running around, with another on the way. But Nicki has sacrificed a lot to let me chase my dreams.”
His son, Angus, is a chip off the old block, relishing the outdoors, as Ben still does.
“To be able to take my little mate along to games is special,” he said.
“After games, whether we win, lose or draw, I am still his dad, and he thinks I’m the best thing in the world, no matter how I have played.”
McEvoy knows he will end up on the land when his footy finishes. He has a contract until the end of the 2019 season, but given his form, seems certain to play beyond that.
“I am enjoying my footy as much as ever,” he said. “But I am realistic. If I finish before I am 30, I will be disappointed. Whatever happens beyond that is a bonus.”
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Originally published as Ben McEvoy has a different perspective on life and footy
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