My Story: Easton Wood takes footy fans through his rise from Camperdown to captaining the Western Bulldogs to a flag
Easton Wood was well into his first AFL Mad Monday when news filtered through that Bulldogs teammate Adam Cooney had won the Brownlow. And he wasn’t going to miss out on the party of the year. He tells the story for the first time.
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Season over.
That was the thought that went through my head as I lay injured on the turf in late 2016.
It was Round 22 against Essendon at Marvel Stadium and finals were just around the corner.
I had jumped up to knock the ball out of bounds and as I landed my ankle just collapsed.
I felt the snap and I remember lying on the ground grabbing my ankle and thinking: “I’m done.”
The next day it looked horrendous and a scan told me I’d ruptured the medial ligament.
I thought the worst.
Club doctors Jake Landsberger and Gary Zimmerman told me the diagnosis was not great, but they thought with good management I could play on it and get back for September.
I missed the final round and then there was the pre-finals bye, which was a Godsend for me and quite a few other teammates.
I was icing it non-stop and spent time in a moon boot.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I’d get up to play.
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But, some swelling subsided and I cleared the fitness test two days before the game so I was in for the elimination final against West Coast.
Unfortunately, I was absolutely nowhere in that game and I managed to do further damage to the ankle.
I had all the painkillers to get up and going, but in the first few minutes I tentatively jumped for the ball and my foot slipped underneath me.
From that moment I couldn’t hit top speed or jump and had no power at all. I was so fortunate to be able to sit back and watch our guys play so well.
Next up was Hawthorn in the semi-finals and I just prayed it would be a bit better.
It was and I contributed a little bit more in that game, but still couldn’t jump properly.
It progressively got better and by the preliminary final against Greater Western Sydney, I had my jumping almost back with the pain relief.
The Grand Final was the same even though the days after were a nightmare, but more on 2016 later.
FROM CAMPERDOWN TO GEELONG GRAMMAR
THERE was no Auskick when I grew up in Camperdown in south-western Victoria.
From about the age of five, we’d go to the local showgrounds and there would be a big bag with two kinds of jumpers in there.
They’d just throw them out to all the kids who rocked up and you’d be on one team or the other.
I loved kicking the dew off at about 8am when it was freezing cold and admiring the cow pats on the ground. It was a real country affair.
When I got older I played for the mighty Camperdown Magpies before heading to Geelong Grammar as a boarder on a scholarship in Years 11 and 12.
Giving out sports scholarships was a bit of a controversy at the time, and to appease some of the parents it was called a “general excellence” scholarship rather than a sports scholarship.
Going from sleepy Camperdown to Geelong Grammar felt like being on a different planet.
The sheer number of students compared to Camperdown High blew my mind, but also Grammar was a huge melting pot of students from around Australia and internationally.
It gave me a better perspective of the world, so it was good to experience that earlier rather than later.
I never played a game of TAC Cup.
I tried out for the under-15 Geelong Falcons but they cut me and I ended up getting drafted from playing school football.
In Year 12 there were some really good players in the APS league and I played against Cyril Rioli when he was at Scotch College.
Lachie Henderson was at Geelong College and I played with Guy O’Keefe, who was also drafted with me to the Western Bulldogs.
Recruiters came down to watch those guys and I played well enough to get on their radar.
MEETING THE DOGS AND THE DRAFT
THE first time I met an AFL recruiter, I had to get him to explain how the national draft worked.
That’s how naive I was. I just had no idea.
It was Scott Clayton, the then Bulldogs recruiting manager, who came to school and wanted to meet me. He told me the Dogs wanted to draft me, which was great.
I didn’t go to draft camp. I didn’t go to a state screening. I didn’t do any of that.
I was just going off this one recruiter saying he was going to draft me, and he did.
My draft was so long ago I had to listen to it on the radio. It was the night of my mum’s birthday and she had about 30 people at home and I had about six of my mates.
My name got read out at pick No.43 and we all had a great night.
MAD MONDAY AND THE BROWNLOW
IT was my first Mad Monday.
We were getting into it when Adam Cooney and some of the other senior guys had to leave.
It was the night of the Brownlow Medal count so they went home, put the suit on and headed to Crown Palladium.
The rest of us continued the festivities.
The next thing I know it is some hours later and “Coons” has won the medal.
That’s when a few of the older boys said: “Right, we’ve got to go in and see him.”
Being 18 years old and with a few under the belt, I insisted on going as well.
Half the team turned up to the after-party and we were in jeans and T-shirts, while everyone else was in suits.
Somehow they snuck us in and we toasted Coons until the wee hours.
GETTING MY FIRST ROCKET
“CHANGE pace!”
To this day I can still hear my first AFL coach Rodney Eade yelling this at the top of his lungs. He would bark those words to me every single time I got the ball at training.
It all started because of a 20m speed test in my first pre-season, in which I got one of the fastest times.
From that moment “Rocket” decided I would be a defender and wanted me breaking lines. I’d played midfield all through juniors, but because I hadn’t done any of the pathway stuff I was quite underdeveloped in my understanding of the game.
The decision was made that I could learn it by following around some of the game’s best forwards.
I THOUGHT IT WAS ALL OVER
I REMEMBER the moment I thought my AFL career might be over.
It was Round 3 of 2013 and we were playing Richmond at Marvel Stadium when I blew up my hamstring after five minutes.
I’d already pinged it during the pre-season and in my return I had lasted a whole five minutes.
“Am I done?” I thought as I sat on the bench.
I missed 12 weeks and had to return through the VFL reserves.
I’d been in the AFL system for six years and came back through the VFL twos, which didn’t look good for me.
They played me there again the next week and I wasn’t in a good space, thinking my career was over.
I moved up to the VFL team the next week and then the AFL side for the final few rounds.
I’ll never forget my exit interview that year.
Then coach Brendan McCartney said: “If there had been a Round 23, you would have been out of the side.”
He told me I’d really have to put it together in 2014 because guys like Jason Johannisen were coming through and it would be hard to justify my spot in the team.
Brendan was right. I wasn’t playing well and I still believe had I not already had a contract for the following year I would have been out the door.
I worked hard over the pre-season, finally had some luck with injury and played 18 of the first 19 games until I broke my hand.
I didn’t set the world on fire, but it was enough to get a one-year extension.
That’s when the chaos came.
Then skipper Ryan Griffen requested a trade and Brendan stood down while I was overseas.
I was in Turkey on holiday reading the news from back home thinking, “This can’t be true”.
But it all was and I soon had my third senior coach.
THE BEVO FACTOR
IT was immediately clear that “Bevo” was different to any other senior coach I’d had.
My first eight years were all about putting your head down, working hard, keeping your emotions in check and showing your masculine qualities as much as possible.
Bevo didn’t give off the vibe that you needed to be this certain way to be successful.
The biggest change was he focused on what you could do rather than what your limitations were, which was a breath of fresh air.
For me personally, he turned me from a dour, lockdown player to an attacking defender and I became a different player.
My confidence skyrocketed and in his first year in charge (2015) I became an All-Australian for the first time and won the club best and fairest.
I’d finished 17th in the best and fairest the year before, which was a career best at the time, and was playing VFL twos two years before.
It seems ridiculous, even to me.
WHEN BOB WENT DOWN
WHEN our captain Bob Murphy went down with his knee in early 2016, I was sh***ing my pants.
It was my first year in the leadership group, which came only off the back of my performances the previous season.
I was voted in and all of a sudden I was vice-captain, which surprised me more than anyone.
There were more qualified candidates in Matthew Boyd and Dale Morris, both of whom probably deserved it more.
It went to me because they felt I might be the next captain and I needed an apprenticeship.
No one expected it to happen so quickly, let alone me.
In Round 3, I was injured and sitting in the stands when “Murph” went down.
We knew straight away by his reaction that it was bad and it was just awful as Bob was in incredible form and was a brilliant skipper.
It felt impossible to fill those shoes, but I just had to lead the best I could in my own way.
THE DAY THAT CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY
THERE are two standout memories of Grand Final day in 2016.
The first one is when we came up the race on to the MCG to go through the banner.
That feeling of the rumble of the crowd is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
It felt like the MCG was moving and I’d never felt that before.
The second is the sound of the final siren.
It was just that moment of, “Oh my God, we’ve done it”.
It dawned on me that it was done forever and could never be taken away.
That feeling was so overwhelming and I just ugly cried for the next 20 minutes.
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HANDING OVER TO BONT
TOWARDS the end of last year, Bevo and I had a chat about the captaincy.
I was so fortunate to be able to captain the club for as long as I did, but we both agreed it was time for Marcus to take us forward.
It was a difficult decision to make, but I believe it was the right one for the club and for me.
“Bont” is such a quality player and person, and is already, under difficult circumstances, thriving in the role.
It’s wonderful to still be at the club and hopefully I still have a number of years left to help guide him through it just like Bob did for me.
Originally published as My Story: Easton Wood takes footy fans through his rise from Camperdown to captaining the Western Bulldogs to a flag