Jake Lever says he had to delete Twitter to avoid negativity after trade to Melbourne
MELBOURNE defender Jake Lever says the perils of social media have become a serious issue for AFL players. And he has a simple solution.
Melbourne
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JAKE Lever had read enough.
After digesting weeks of criticism feeding off his ordinary start for Melbourne, Lever pulled out his phone and deleted Twitter.
“I just had to,” the young defender told the Herald Sun.
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“It got too much. Footy is so scrutinised now that if you stuff up one thing it’s all over Twitter (and) it’s all over a news article.”
Lever, 22, has copped it since last year’s Grand Final loss to Richmond.
First the Crows fans turned on him for requesting a trade, then it was Adelaide’s captain, Taylor Walker, and this season critics from across the footy world have queued up to question his output.
Lever said it was time to realise the perils of social media have become a “serious issue” in the AFL.
“It’s about understanding that footballers are human,” he said.
“You’ve seen guys like Tom Boyd — similar situation to myself, where he’s come over on a high profile (deal) and in a move that wasn’t liked by his old club.
“With his mental health problems it almost flows off that.
“I think players need to deal with it in a way where they almost get off it (social media). Just eliminate it — it does more harm than good.”
Lever understands the industry. He knew that returning home on a five-year contract worth close to $4 million would attract pressure.
His first month was underwhelming and that was always going to lead to questions.
But it didn’t mean he had to absorb it all.
“If I walk into (coach) Simon Goodwin’s office and Troy Chaplin, the backline coach, most weeks and they’re happy with me then I can’t do too much more,” he said.
“I pride myself on being a strong person and over this five-week period it did start to get to me.”
Take a quick scan of Lever’s Twitter mentions and it easy to see why the app has been punted.
From supporter vitriol to more measured, yet more powerful, comments voiced by footy’s experts, it became exhausting for Lever, and impossible to ignore.
“You’ve got a notification sitting there on Twitter and so you click on it,” he said.
“It might be a fan or it might be an article written about you and it just really drains you. It’s not like you wake up every night thinking about it, it’s more you bring it into the club.
“I was hoping my teammates didn’t read it and start thinking that it was getting me down and therefore they might be thinking the same thing.”
After cleansing himself of Twitter, Lever said he felt “a bit more refreshed” heading into the Anzac eve clash against Richmond.
Goodwin labelled his performance against the Tigers “terrific” after the 46-point loss.
“I thought that was back to his trademark play,” the Dees coach said.
Lever has requested more patience. He’s now played five games in red and blue and he suspects it’ll take another five for Melbourne’s defenders to learn his game, and for him to learn theirs.
“You ask a lot of defenders and (they say) if you play with a defensive group for so long you trust each other and begin to learn how each other play,” Lever said.
“It’s not just me personally. There are some new guys in the backline, like Gussy Brayshaw (against Richmond).
“It takes sort of 10 weeks before you nail it. I think it’s really important we keep sticking at it.
“The more continuity you get within the team, which generally starts to happen after Round 7 or 8 once a team starts to settle, I think that’s when you start playing really good footy.”
Some damning clips of Lever have been dissected on footy talk shows this season, although his raw numbers aren’t disastrous.
Lever closely examines Alex Rance and judges himself on one-on-one battles and his intercept game.
This season Lever has lost only two of 11 defensive one-on-ones — 18 per cent.
That ranks 10th in the AFL, while Essendon’s Michael Hurley has lost eight of 17 (47 per cent).
In fact, Lever and Hurley are neck and neck in the AFL player ratings, which clubs regard highly, yet the similarly high-priced Bomber hasn’t drawn negativity.
Lever was the AFL’s intercept king last year with his average of 3.6 intercept marks ranking No. 2 behind All-Australian Jeremy McGovern.
This season that has dropped to two intercept marks, although Lever is figuring out how to handle smaller attacks.
“They’re sort of only going one or two talls this year whereas last year there were three talls for (nearly) every team, therefore I could play on that third tall.”
Lever stands 195cm and this season his primary opponents have included Esava Ratugolea (197cm), Lewy Taylor (175cm), Jy Simpkin (182cm) and Jacob Townsend (187cm).
“For me it’s being able to play on the big monsters but then being able to play on the smaller types,” Lever said.
Lever is living with fiance Jess in Kew and embraced father Alan in the MCG rooms shortly after the loss to the Tigers.
“I’m super stoked to be here,” he said.
“I think it’s really important for me to be around my family at the minute. They’re my biggest support but they also know when to tell me when I’m not going so well as well.”
What about his seemingly fractured relationship with the Crows?
“Look, I’ve got heaps of close mates still there,” he said.
“I watch with interest every week how my mates go and, yeah., at the time it was a touchy subject, but I’ve moved on and I hope the club has as well.”
Originally published as Jake Lever says he had to delete Twitter to avoid negativity after trade to Melbourne