Premiership Demon Ed Langdon opens up on his coffee business, being a ‘furniture junkie’

There’s a lot more to life than football for Ed Langdon, but that doesn’t mean he’ll take his eye off the ball as a crucial cog of the Melbourne side. Jon Ralph learns a little bit more about the Dee.

In an AFL world of football obsessives, Ed Langdon is determined to spend his career tasting all that life has to offer.

Last off-season he was found racing mountain bikes across the Mars-like landscape of Saudi Arabia alongside captain Max Gawn in the same contest as world champion Peter Sagan.

The furniture junkie is about to launch a new modular furniture range alongside brother and ex-Pie Tom, with imported Danish pieces taking pride of place in his living room.

A 10-year Bachelor of Business degree majoring in supply chain management is thankfully just behind him.

Max Gawn and Ed Langdon cycling in Saudi Arabia.

Langdon has plenty of interests outside of football. Picture: Getty Images

And the coffee business that he and Tom started – Lay Day Coffee – is about to be kickstarted once again.

And yet none of it has seen him take his eye off the ball as a hugely reliable and important part of Melbourne’s own supply chain.

Look closely and you will have seen him moving forward at the first bounce these past seven weeks instead of to his usual spot on the wing.

As youngsters Xavier Lindsay and Harvey Langford instead get reps as Melbourne’s new-look wingmen, he has played a critical role at half forward.

That role will be one of the Demons’ secret weapons against Collingwood as they desperately try to get more than 85,000 fans into the MCG for King’s Birthday.

In essence he starts at half forward but at some stage swaps with Christian Petracca or Kysaiah Pickett as he finds himself in the midfield.

Langdon is an unselfish teammate. Picture: Michael Klein

The 29-year-old ex-Docker has never been one for fanfare after 191 AFL games but is exactly the kind of selfless, low-maintenance player who drives team success.

After so long as an elite-running wingman he has accepted his new role with relish rather than throwing the toys out of the cot.

“It’s been a subtle shift. I have played most of the last decade on the wing which I have loved doing. But it’s been a nice shift in position,” he said this week.

“For me it refreshed my mindset coming into games, which I think has been really healthy. As always if it’s going to help the team win and help some guys perform then I am more than happy to do it.

“It changes depending on each game and the situation but it’s an important role and it helps the team function. What has been a real strength is how many players can play different positions, and that’s been a real shift in the last seven weeks.”

If Langdon’s role has been one of those factors in the five wins in the past seven weeks – after a 0-5 start to the year – the main reason is elementary.

Watching Essendon beat Melbourne live from Adelaide Oval in Gather Round, what was obvious was just how easy the Demons were to play against.

“The margins are so small in AFL and you can be a couple of per cent off and teams will punish you. So I think the biggest change in our game is as simple as pressure,” he said.

“Pressure teams tend to go well in the competition and that’s been the biggest change.

“It’s a bit of how we set the ground up to put our strengths on show but a lot of it is mindset and an attitude of making sure you rock up ready to bring the heat.”

Goodwin has driven that mood but so has mindfulness coach Ben Crowe, so critical in helping the Demons come together at their Bright camp over summer.

“We do a lot of work with Ben Crowe on our beliefs. When you get more people buying into (that pressure) it’s contagious and it’s really powerful for the footy club.”

The 2021 premiership player is helping push the next wave at the club. Picture: Getty Images

Langdon says he has always loved fine furniture, with a Danish Arne Vodder desk made of Brazilian rosewood his favourite piece.

Tom and Ed are on the verge of launching The Air Table, a modular lego-based table made of foam that is perfect for smaller apartments.

“The elevator pitch is that its adaptability is its great strength. It’s an outdoor table you can bring inside, you can join them together for a dinner table but you can also flat-pack it and put it under your couch.

“I’m not a designer or engineer so that’s probably a large reason why it’s taken two and a half years but I’m a big furniture fan, I love my mid-century furniture so it was something I thought would be interesting to try and do it a little bit differently.”

Originally published as Premiership Demon Ed Langdon opens up on his coffee business, being a ‘furniture junkie’