Western Bulldogs forward Rory Lobb opens up on trying to find form, his unlikely journey to AFL and life on course

After leaving school at 14, Rory Lobb was a painter, a labourer, a landscaper, a basketballer — then a footballer. He opens up on his unlikely journey to the Western Bulldogs and that night in Perth.

Rory Lobb of the Bulldogs. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The nine holes at Cottesloe Golf Club weren’t even half finished when Rory Lobb picked up his ball.

He couldn’t focus, or swing, while his manager Colin Young ran the hallways of Marvel Stadium as the minutes ticked down to the end of trade period last October.

Then a Fremantle Docker, Lobb hit the fairways with his girlfriend Lexi’s grandfather, Ivan, though his mobile phone had more of his attention than the links at hand as he desperately awaited the call that he’d be a Bulldog.

“I didn’t want to be sitting on the couch waiting,” Lobb laughed this week.

Western Bulldogs player Rory Lobb playing golf at Barnbougle in Tasmania. Picture: Instagram

“Colin was running up and down between the boxes – I had full faith in what he was capable of.

“I was going all right for the first few holes and then when the trade still hadn’t come through, I think it was like five or 10 minutes to go, I was on a hole and I just picked up.

“I had to just wait. I couldn’t even hit the ball. It was pretty funny.”

Lexi – already living in Melbourne – was “stressing out”, as was Lobb.

“I put the clubs away and just walked,” he said.

With just three minutes of the trade period left, Lobb’s move was complete.

“I ended up finishing the nine holes and then had to start making some calls and answering calls,” he said.

One of “the most inconsistent golfers you’ll see”, Lobb is enjoying hitting Melbourne’s famed courses, playing the Mornington Peninsula and sand belt at the moment.

“Some days I can look like a scratch golfer, and other days look like I’ve never played before,” he joked.

“I’m off about 13, but I let myself down a lot with my scoring. I’ve got a passion for it and to go out there on a day off and switch off from football is always good.”

The move east was a smooth one, with the 206cm forward right in the thick of Melbourne, living not far from the bustle of Chapel St.

He can’t hide. The height and the now-trademark peroxide hair make the perfect combination for that, with the latter having had a slight remodel after the Bulldogs’ breakthrough win in round 3.

“I forgot how much the Powerade stings the eyes, but my hair ended up turning a little bit blue until I washed it out,” Lobb said. “I don’t really know what I’d look like without it anymore. I’ve kept it rolling.”

Lobb had a tough time at school. Picture: Getty Images

ON THE TOOLS

Lobb left school at the age of 14.

It wasn’t in pursuit of his talents with the ball – then a basketball rather than a Sherrin or a Titleist.

It was bullies.

They were relentless, from a young age. Years 8 and 9 were particularly bad. His parents refused to put up with the way he was treated and pulled him out before Year 9 was complete.

Some were footy teammates, which put him off the game for a while, and he picked up the tools in a range of vocations – painting, labouring, FIFO in the Pilbara. Lobb eventually settled on landscaping.

“It’s been a long time, now. I’m 30, so it’s been 16 years since leaving school,” Lobb said.

“I’m 10 years into the system. I obviously got some really good life skills, leaving school at 14 and getting drafted a few years later. I was working and playing basketball.

“I did a lot of different things, to be honest. But I ended up as a landscaper when I was 16. I did two years as a builder’s labourer and then went into landscaping until I got drafted.”

The talented basketballer was all-in on the court, but was spotted by a Swan District representative at 18 in a casual match with mates. He had the height, but to describe his skills as raw would – Lobb said – be an understatement.

“I don’t think I could have hit a target from 10 metres away with my kicking,” he said.

Lobb’s road to AFL is anything but conventional. Picture: Getty Images

“I was able to pick it up pretty quickly, but the first few trainings, I think it was a bit of nerves as well. I hadn’t really played much football since I was 14. I was considering playing, and the basketball coach (I had) said, ‘You know what mate, have a good career’, and didn’t really chase me to come back. So that’s why I made the change in the end.

“He really didn’t give me the faith to come back and play basketball. So I thought, ‘Well, if you don’t care that much then I’m going to play another sport’.”

It’s not lost on Lobb, his journey that he concedes is “a lot different to a lot of AFL players who came straight out of school”.

That on a day like Thursday, he played golf at St Andrews on a day off, rather than being deep in manual labour in the rain.

“I want to play as long as I can – I understand how good we have it,” he said.

“I’m really keen to play for a long time and being able to help develop some of the younger players that are coming through.”

DOG DAYS

Luke Beveridge’s honesty impressed the former Docker and Giant.

They were “on the same page” from day dot, the Dogs winning out after interest from other clubs.

Lobb – five games in to life at The Kennel – has booted 4.6 this season and is the first to admit he is “not playing at the level that I want to”.

But there’s time – and plenty to do.

“I’ve been able to help the guys around me play better at times,” he said.

“Whether I’m kicking goals or not, (Beveridge) doesn’t mind. It’s just how I turn out every week and my effort and energy when I bring to the game.

“I let myself down the last couple of weeks with my set shots. You’ve always got to go back and reset and get back to basics, which I feel like I have this week. Hopefully the kicking goals comes back.

“It’s hard, in a way, when you come to a team that you haven’t played with. We’ve only played five games together, so me, Jamarra (Ugle-Hagan) and Naughty (Aaron Naughton) are just working each other out. Obviously the mids, as well. We’re trying to be a very potent forward line and I feel like we’ve got the capabilities.

“It doesn’t really matter who’s kicking the goals for us, it’s just putting a good score on the scoreboard.”

Lobb knows better than anyone that his start at the kennel has been stunted, with surgery puncturing his first few rounds. Picture: Getty Images

Lobb notched just six disposals in round 1 against Melbourne, now admitting he was “almost on one leg” having stirred up an old ankle issue that then required surgery.

Just nine days after going under, he was back against the Brisbane Lions – with the club 0-2 and him desperate to rush back – booting two.

“We were trying to see if I could get through, and we had to try to see if I could manage it through the year, which obviously I couldn’t,” he said.

“We all let ourselves down in Round 1, but me personally having to go into surgery after that and then somehow coming back in nine days to play in Round 3, post-surgery, was … a bit interesting.”

He believes the Dogs “are getting back to the footy we want to play”, him now with no swelling in that ankle and full range.

“I feel like the last two weeks, I’m getting closer to being back to my best with my leading patterns and competing in the air,” Lobb said.

“The first few games, I was a bit frustrated with how I was going in that regard, and I wasn’t playing the way I wanted to play.”

HEADING HOME

Going back to Fremantle last weekend was everything Lobb had expected.

Jeers, and boos, and jostling from his former teammates.

A few nerves.

“They were a little bit like a final,” he said.

“Just putting so much pressure on myself to have a good game, and you just want to play so well against your old team. I fully expected the boos to come. To be honest, on the field, it just drowns out, so I didn’t notice them until I really listened. But it was a great atmosphere, it was just so great to get the win.”

Rory Lobb with the ‘Lobster Tears’ beer.

Toasted, of course, with a sip of Lobster Tears on TikTok – a brew inspired by his departure from the Dockers, dubbed a “slightly salty raspberry sour”.

“It sort of tasted a little bit like kombucha,” he said.

He’s sourced a four-pack from those who produced it – a keepsake.

“They’ve been really good about it. It was all good fun.”

Originally published as Western Bulldogs forward Rory Lobb opens up on trying to find form, his unlikely journey to AFL and life on course