‘Fat lazy slob’: Ex-Footy star Adam Cooney wishes he pulled his head in when he was first drafted

Former footy star Adam Cooney wishes he put down the Vodka Cruisers and hit the gym before rocking up to his first pre-season with the Bulldogs as a young buck.

Former footy star Adam Cooney says he regrets being a “fat lazy slob” when he was drafted as the no. 1 pick in 2003.

The only top selection to win a Brownlow Medal, Cooney said he was fat when he got to the Bulldogs and wishes he had pulled his head in.

“When I got drafted I was in no position to be playing football,’’ Cooney said.

“They made the mistake of telling me that they were going to draft me four months before the draft. I was 17 doing year 12 and I was like, well I’ve made it. I’m the king. So I spent the next four months just partying.

“I was actually fatter than I am now when I got drafted.”

Adam Cooney gets chaired off after game 250 for the Bombers. Pic: Michael Klein

In a discussion with campmates Woody Whitelaw and Domenica Calarco on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me out of Here! … Cooney said he vomited on day one of pre-season while doing sprints.

“I got there, they took one look at me and (were like) what have we done,’’ he said.

“I vomited after we did 10, 100s (100m) for warm ups and I vomited after four. What was I thinking.”

He said it was a “real error” but he was just a kid.

“I look back disappointed in my behaviour but I was only a young pup,’’ he said.

“Probably, definitely, 100 per cent should have pulled my head in. If I could go back I’d slap that 17 year-old, tell him to get in the gym, stop drinking vodka cruisers on a Thursday night before a Saturday night game and get to work you fat lazy slob.”

Cooney said he wasted his first year of footy but he still managed to play 19 games.

In his decorated career he racked up 250 games for the Bulldogs and Essendon and retired in 2016.