HM: You grew up in Bannockburn barracking for the Cats – how were you when you were drafted to the Hawks?

JW: I love Geelong as a place, I love getting back home. I grew up a Geelong supporter, and so did the entire family! Getting drafted to the Hawks was a little ironic, but I’m loving my opportunity at Hawthorn.

HM: Are your mum and dad and your eight siblings all still staunch Geelong supporters?

JW: It’s a funny one, actually. Sometimes when Mum comes and watches the Easter Monday game, she has a Hawks jumper on, with blue and white ribbons in her hair! Most of the family have converted, which is good. She’s smart, Bev – she can’t be beaten! We win, she wins. We lose, she still wins!

HM: Be nice if life was always like that. You’re the eighth of nine – you’ve got four older sisters, three older brothers and one younger sister?

JW: That’s right. There’s two years between most of us. My eldest sister is 31 … around that age, I think … actually … I’m not too sure! When you have eight other brothers and sisters, it’s hard to remember everyone’s age. We are all very close, I’m just not 100 per cent on the ages.

HM: Understandable. Meal times must have been busy!

JW: Dinner time was always fun. I don’t know how Mum did it all to be honest, but she was a really good cook, which was very lucky for me. I ate plenty growing up. Luckily there wasn’t a need for a family bus or two car trips each morning, as being a small town, we could all walk to school.

HM: Your parents weren’t really into football, were they?

JW: No, they weren’t into it all. We used to live 200m from the local footy club, and my three brothers and I used to love walking down there together with a couple of footies. We were lucky to have an acre at home, so a great backyard to kick around and play scratch matches in with the brothers.

THE YOUNGEST BOY IN A BIG FAMILY

HM: Being the youngest son, you’re always undersized in the backyard – is that where you learnt to win the hard ball?

JW: Being the youngest, you are always physically underdone, and initially you are intimidated, but yeah, I think that’s where I learnt to enjoy the rough and tough side of footy, and just focus on winning the ball and being quick to avoid getting caught.

HM: You’re a January birth, which meant you had to wait a year for your draft. Did you always feel you were going to get drafted?

JW: I was worried actually. I had a really strong bottom age year as a 17-year-old in year 12. I played in a prelim final for the Falcons, I played Vic Country in all the games, and was touted pretty highly. Then in my year after school waiting to be drafted in my top age year, I was playing reasonable footy, but I heard the recruiters had seen some stuff they didn’t like. By the end of the year, I was unsure whether I was going to get picked up at all. In the end I went late 40s and as a lot of inside midfielders get overlooked these days, I was pretty lucky to be given a chance at all, I reckon.

APPROACHED BY HAWKS WHILE NAPPING

HM: Is it true when Hawthorn came to approach you, you were actually asleep?

JW: (laughs) That is true! Everyone has their interviews at the draft combine, and I’d only been approached by Port Adelaide and Fremantle. They both took only about 10 minutes, and they didn’t give me too much. I was laying down having a nap, and someone tapped me on the shoulder – “Have you got a spare seven minutes?” It was a bit of a weird one. I didn’t think they were interested in me, but luckily enough, they were.

HM: You always wanted to be drafted – but as more names are read out and none of them are yours, do you get concerned your dream is slipping through your fingers?

JW: You do start to think the worst. A lot of things go through your head, especially as an 18-year-old where it is all you’ve been thinking about for years. I was sitting there with all my family and friends over and it kept getting later and later in the draft. West Coast had shown a little bit of interest, so I thought I was potentially moving away from home. I was working with my brother full time at the winery, but I thought I was going to be resigning … but then, I wasn’t so sure.

FROM FARMER TO FOOTBALLER

HM: Did you enjoy the year off, working a “real” job in the winery? Your role?

JW: I was a jack of all trades! It was an open house winery, a small boutique with really good wines. I worked outside most days, lugging hay bales up hills, pruning and trimming the vines or digging up rocks for a few weeks at a time, and some days I’d be inside bottling or labelling. Some days were harder than others. Going from working full time as a farmer slash labourer, to AFL footy, it does make you cherish it a little bit.

HM: Gives you a sense of how lucky you are, and what awaits?

JW: Definitely. That year was great for me. I was a pretty mature young lad at 17 as growing up in a big family you have to mature pretty quickly, because Mum didn’t have too much time for everyone. At No.8 in the line, Mum was just about fed up with it all, so we had to get on with things.

HM: The Hawks had you do some work experience outside of the footy club. You chose the corrections system – why?

JW: I went to the Parkville juvenile justice centre for a week. Corrections work is something I’m really interested in. Being younger, I wanted to go into a youth detention centre and see what the kids were like. I like to help people, and the kids in there have had a pretty rough upbringing. In my mind I thought that anything I could do to help them was good work.

HM: You would have seen some remarkable stories?

JW: Because these kids range from 12 to 18, and I’m not much older than them, it’s a bit scary seeing some of them in there and seeing how tough their life had been. Most have suffered with family issues, and subsequently gone down the wrong path. I remember this boy from Bendigo, he loves footy. He was a good athlete, so it was really sad seeing him in there. I just wanted to make sure that when he does get out, he doesn’t end up back in. One of the hardest things for these kids is falling into a bit of a cycle they can’t break. I remember kicking the footy with him heaps. I said, “Mate, when you get out, make sure you get to a footy club, play, train hard, keep active and make some good, new friends.” Most footy clubs have good people in them. I’m not sure how he’s going now.

HM: Did they recognise you?

JW: Not many recognised me at all. You would have thought that they’d watch heaps of footy and know who you were, but I think that highlights how off track these guys were and how removed from the average day to day they are.

IF IT WASN’T FOR FOOTY, JAMES MIGHT HAVE BEEN A PRISON GUARD

HM: I read that if it wasn’t for footy, you may have been a prison guard. What interests you there?

JW: One of my friends back home works in a prison, and he really likes it. One of my good friends’ mothers also works in a prison, and she says she benefits from it too. I think it’d be really rewarding. It would be different and challenging, and I’m sure you’d wake up every day not knowing what’s going to happen – that would excite me. You’d hopefully see some really good stories come out of it. You always hear of the riots on the news, but I’m sure it’d be worth it once you saw some come out the other side a better person.

HM: Does that mean you’re a Green Mile and a Shawshank Redemption man?

JW: I’ve seen Shawshank Redemption, I’m not sure what the other one is!

HM: Green Mile? Money-back guarantee if you don’t like it.

JW: Sounds good.

HM: What’s the best advice you’ve been given since you started your football journey?

JW: Talent isn’t everything – hard work outweighs talent when talent doesn’t work hard. That resonates with me. I’m not one of the most talented footballers, but I like to think of myself as a hard worker. My family have instilled those values in me, especially my older brother, who taught me the most about football when I was younger.

THE BEST AND FAIREST

HM: You worked hard enough to become the youngest best and fairest winner since Leigh Matthews. From worried about being picked up to a Peter Crimmins medallist in your second year.

JW: It was crazy! Very surprising. I worked really hard in 2019, and Sam Mitchell had just come back to the club. We went to Kokoda at the start of 2019, and Tom Mitchell had broken his leg at training, which left a gap in the midfield. I remember writing down my goals at the end of 2018, and I’ve still got them in my locker today. I wrote: “Play more than 10 plus games and solidify your spot in the 22”. By the end of the year, I’d played 22 games, and won the best and fairest. I was really enjoying my footy, really enjoying Melbourne, and a lot of things fell my way that year. I’m super humbled by becoming the youngest since Leigh, and hopefully I can get a few more with a bit of success at the Hawks.

HM: Do you write down goals every year?

JW: I do.

HM: Just football – or life in general?

JW: More football. I’d like to do a bit more around life goals, but at the moment, footy is the biggest thing in my life.

HM: You seem to be an unbelievably mature young man. Country life, coupled with a big family upbringing, where you had to fall into line or you got slapped about a bit from your brothers?

PUBLIC SCHOOL, IN A PRETTY ROUGH AREA

JW: Definitely. Growing up we weren’t by any means well off financially. I went to a public school, in a pretty rough area of Geelong. Being the second youngest of nine, you have a lot of older siblings to model yourself off. You grow up pretty quickly, and there are times where you could go down the wrong path. Luckily enough, I didn’t venture down that way. I’m sure if my family values weren’t there, I could have easily gone down the wrong path.

HM: Have some of your mates turned left instead of right?

JW: Definitely a few in the early high school days. Being at a public school, I’m not saying all public schools are terrible – I loved my school, I loved my friends and all my teachers – but there are always a few that take the wrong turns. You try your best to steer clear of the temptations, and luckily enough, I have. I have a good family who have good values.

HM: Are you a social media advocate, or a social media user that is very wary?

JW: It’s an interesting one. I have a few followers, but I’m not very outspoken on my social media. I try not to say too much, and I’m very wary of what I do post. Most AFL players are nowadays; it’s so easy to slip up. Everyone’s out to get you, so you’ve got to be very wary of what you’re posting. Every word. Everything gets picked up on and overanalysed.

HM: When you say everyone’s out to get you, how long does it take you to realise that as soon as you’re drafted and pull on an AFL jumper, there is an appetite to drag you down in some way, shape or form? Whether it be from the mainstream, or just the outer?

JW: Pretty quickly. In that first week, everything is pretty good and everyone gets around you, but as soon as games start coming along and you’re not performing, everyone has an opinion and are seemingly only too happy to voice it. It’s so easy for people to type, send and forget about it.

HM: And don’t realise the damage they are doing?

JW: Exactly. A lot of people that are sending the abuse over the fence, or onto our social feeds, must forget that we are people too, and that we all have our own issues and our own problems. You’ve got to learn quickly how to manage the abuse that comes your way. I remember Jarryd Roughead was really stern to me about my social media when I first got to the club. He was a great leader in that way – just a legend of the game.

ROUGHEAD’S LIFE ADVICE

HM: What was his advice?

JW: His main advice was, if you have to ask someone else about whether you should post it, don’t post it at all. If there’s even the tiniest doubt that you should post it, don’t. Your instincts are probably right.

HM: How do you get affected when you see the trolls coming at you?

JW: It’s an interesting one. Towards the end of last year and the start of this year, where my form may not have been up to scratch, people let me know about it. They do come for you, and it is confronting. For the majority of my career the fans have been really good to me and mostly positive, but one in 10 are negative.

HM: That’s when you are going well?

JW: Yep – when you’re not playing well, that increases to around seven out of 10, I reckon.

HM: Direct abuse?

JW: Yep. Our younger generation have been around social media a little longer and have a thicker skin when it comes to dealing with the abuse. I can only assume people send these messages thinking that we aren’t going to read them …

HM: … staggering people feel they have a right to abuse …

JW … but we are on our phones like everyone else is. We see them.

HM: … and can’t unsee them …

JW: Exactly, we flick through them, see them, and they sort of burn into your mind. They affect us. At the moment, right now, it’s the worst it’s been.

HM: Because the Hawks are one and four, or because 2021 is a vicious world?

JW: A bit of both, I think. I don’t have a problem with people voicing their opinions, but their doesn’t seem to be a great deal of accountability. We go out there every week trying to play our best – we’re not trying to play poorly, or stuff your multi up, or your SuperCoach! We judge ourselves harshly, we don’t need the heroes from the outer. I guess it’s just the world we live in today.

HM: Not the world we should be living in – kindness is too often in short supply. Have you ever contemplated removing yourself from the social?

JW: Not personally, not yet. Most businesses use it as their No.1 communication tools, it can be a news service, and you can get your own messages out there.

MANAGING MENTAL HEALTH

HM: In terms of you making sure your mental health is always in the best shape it can be, how do you manage that? We know how hard you train to get your physical stuff right; how do you get your mental health right?

JW: Footy these days is a full-time job, and it’s very demanding. We love it, and that’s why we do it. It’s one of the best jobs in the world, don’t get me wrong, but we spend a lot of time at the footy club. For me, being a country boy, getting back home and connecting with old friends and family is really important. Time away from the game is one of the biggest mental releases you can get. I love going in there every day and working my arse off, but it’s nice to have a break every now and then. It’s critical, finding that balance.

HM: Clarko. Were you scared of him initially?

JW: Yes – of course! I still am!

HM: How would you describe him?

JW: A nice, mad scientist that isn’t afraid to get things wrong.

HM: You spoke about Kokoda. It’s been a huge part of Hawthorn’s DNA and fabric. When you walked for the first time, Sam Mitchell was a part of that trek. Is that when you were offered the famous No.5?

TREKKING KOKODA

JW: It was. Kokoda started at the start of 2019, and Sam Mitchell had just come back to the club. After that 10 days of walking, we were sitting down in PNG at a restaurant. We’d had a few beers, and I jokingly asked about the No.5 – it was available because Ryan Burton had departed the club. After spending 10 days together, and a few beers deep, I don’t know if he was being completely serious, but he said he’d love me to have it. I made sure the next day I texted him, when we landed back in Melbourne, just to make sure if he was being serious. He said yes.

HM: Who do you then approach? Straight to the property steward?

JW: Sam spread the word to Clarko, and I went to the player development department and asked them. We had to make sure that we ticked off all the spare numbers. I was assigned the 5, and I was pretty stoked to be honest, in my second year, having one of the most famous numbers at Hawthorn.

WEARING THE NUMBER 5

HM: Do you know who has worn it before you? Are you a game historian or are you more in the now?

JW: I’m more in the now. I know Peter Crimmins wore it, and the best and fairest is named after him. He battled cancer and captained the footy club. Daniel Harford wore it before Sam. Then Ryan Burton. And then myself. I’m not too familiar with the history.

HM: You’ve done well. The last Aussie to win Wimbledon was Lleyton Hewitt. Do you know who the Wimbledon winner was from an Aussie perspective before that in the men’s draw?

JW: No idea.

HM: Pat Cash. His father, he wore 5.

JW: What!

HM: Pat Cash’s father, from 1951 to 1955, wore the 5 for 58 games.

JW: Wow.

HM: That’s why Pat Cash is a massive Hawthorn man.

JW: There you go. Pat Cash Sr. Wow.

HM: One of my favourite players to watch is Changkuoth Jiath. When you see him move, he has the ability to be anything.

JW: CJ is crazy. I’ve played footy with him since I was 15, and I remember I played in a few Vic teams with him, the country teams throughout my juniors, before we were drafted to Hawthorn together. He was knocking on the door last year – he played three or four games and did OK, but wasn’t at the right level. Now Sicily is injured, and a few boys have moved on from our back six, so he’s got his chance. He works really hard, and he’s worked especially hard this pre-season. We are super proud of him internally, and we knew he was going to have a good year. The exciting thing is he still has a lot to improve on.

FAVOURITE PIZZA

HM: I knew about the winery work. Did you also spend some time at a pizza shop?

JW: I did. My sister ran a pizza shop, and her boyfriend’s father owned it. Those two ran it from a young age, about 18, and I was in there when I was 15 right through until I was drafted. That was just a little night job. I worked pretty hard. I remember going to school, going home and working at the pizza shop. I’d work there on school holidays. It was great. A local country pizza shop. Quiet, cruisy, great.

HM: Did you make the pizzas or deliver them?

JW: I was making them!

HM: Wood-fired oven?

JW: A conveyor belt … bit easier. You know, one night your brother Gill came into the shop for a coffee and a pizza before I was drafted. My sister made him a coffee and chatted – he said he was driving home from the farm. Small world!

HM: Very small. What was your specialty? If you were going to try and impress, what pizza combo would you go for?

JW: A sweet chilli chicken! Put the chicken on, some capsicum, onion and sweet chilli sauce. My favourite. Perhaps it would need to be a little fancier if I was taking a girl out on a date …

HM: Sweet chilli sounds good. Mate, thanks for chatting. I love watching you play, and good luck for the year.

JW: Thank you – appreciate it.

For more stories like this check out “Beyond the Boundary” on the AIA Vitality content hub.