Ollie Florent says he has to find his ruthlessness to turn promising career into long, successful one
OLLIE Florent is about as nice a kid as you will meet but the 19-year-old says he has to tap into the hard-nosed side of his personality to turn his promising career into a long and successful one.
Sydney
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OLLIE Florent is about as nice a kid as you will meet but the 19-year-old says he will tap into the hard-nosed side of his personality to turn his promising career into a successful one.
He gets his first chance to display some mongrel in his game on Sunday against West Coast at the new Perth Stadium.
“The AFL is a ruthless environment,” Florent told the Daily Telegraph.
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“You have to have the right attitude to play in this league because it doesn’t come easy. You can’t hide anywhere if you aren’t fierce in your effort.”
Florent performed well in last year’s season opener when the Swans went down to Port Adelaide at the SCG.
“It was a bit of an eye opener when I arrived here,” Florent said.
“I was surprised by just how serious my teammates were, how competitive they were and how much they wanted to win. Josh Kennedy, Dan Hannebery, Luke Parker, Jarrad McVeigh and Dane Rampe, they set the standards.
“You just don’t want to be the weak link. It’s a great feeling when you are winning with those guys and how much they get around you.”
Of those players Hannebery is the closest in game style and physique and has taught Florent much of what he knows about performing at the top level.
“I work really closely with Dan (Hannebery), Florent said.
“He’s the one I want to play like, he’s my mentor. He’s so professional the way he trains and the way he talks to the blokes and the way he helps me. I watch my game vision with him.
“We play in a similar fashion, I don’t want to be exactly like him though, I want to do things my way but we do have a lot of similarities playing that inside outside role.”
Hannebery and Florent have had very similar starts to their careers with both making their debuts at the age of 18 and playing seven and nine games respectively in their first seasons.
If Florent can follow Hannebery second season effort of 21 games he will be doing very well.
“Games aren’t given to you,” he said.
“I had to earn my spot last year and if I didn’t perform I was straight out of the team.
You have to be consistent with everything you do, training standards and playing standards.”