Western Bulldogs forward Josh Bruce and wife Pip facing the reality of having a baby in Queensland
Josh Bruce and his wife weren’t planning on having an interstate baby even when they relocated to Queensland, but the good form of the Western Bulldogs means it’s a very likely possibility.
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As a 120-game AFL forward, Josh Bruce is used to being on the receiving end of delivery from the midfield.
But as he prepares to embark on the most frantic period of football in history, the 28-year-old Western Bulldog and his wife Pip are preparing for a delivery of a different kind.
For them, “a Queensland baby” is a realistic prospect.
Pip joined Bruce in the team’s Gold Coast hub when they shifted north just over a fortnight ago, with almost two-year-old daughter Poppy in tow.
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But at 29 weeks pregnant and the league now set in Queensland until season’s end, Pip may give birth to their second child interstate.
“As soon as we got the news that we were going to be here until mid-September at least, it was like, well, we’re due in early October, so let’s just see what we’re thinking on this,” Bruce said.
“In the last couple of days, working out exact time-frames and speaking to obstetricians and stuff, it’s looking more likely than less likely that we’ll have a Queensland baby.”
They’re now on the lookout for a Gold Coast obstetrician.
“Pip’s been looking into some stuff up here, and obviously it’s just another thing we’ve got to be flexible with to get this season going,” Bruce said.
“It’s going to be very interesting. I think we’ll probably have to move out to an Airbnb or something if it gets to that point. Hopefully we’re playing finals by that point as well, and having our little Queensland baby.
“We’re currently on the lookout for some OBs up here, if you know anyone.”
Bruce said Pip was rolling with the league’s most turbulent season. They both are.
“If it had all been put on you at once, it would have been like ‘no way, I can’t do any of it’, but it’s kind of like, everything is just happening — what next?” he said with a laugh.
“(Pip) is cruising. She’s really relaxed with this kind of stuff. There’s not much you can really do, so the way we see it, she doesn’t really want to be away from me when she’s having our second child, and I’ve got to be here for work, so there’s no real option.”
Poppy is ready to meet her new sibling, interstate or otherwise.
“We got a few books for her to start getting her ready,” Bruce said.
“She loves the bump on mum’s tummy and always gives it cuddles and kisses — she’s going to be a great big sister.”
The Bruces have been based at the Mercure Resort at Carrara, just a few drop punts from Metricon Stadium.
Until Monday, they were hotel-bound, meaning inventive measures to keep Poppy entertained.
“Poppy’s loving it. She’s killing it,” he said.
“It’s good for her to be around other kids that are here, as well. It’s a good little community of kids … we’re really grateful to the club and the AFL for that.
“During the 14-day quarantine Poppy got a little bit pent-up, but there’s pools and stuff here, so you can always find ways to entertain her. Her little brain … it’s almost like she’d forgotten there was an outside world. When we took her out on Monday you could see it was exploding.”
It’s no holiday, however.
Players and their families are bound by what are effectively stage 3 restrictions, meaning they can only get takeaway food and coffee and cannot simply cruise Cavill Avenue as many Victorians would at this time of year.
Bruce managed a dawn surf on Monday at Palm Beach, watching the sun rise to mark his relative freedom under football’s “new normal”.
The Bulldogs have won four of their past five games in what Bruce said had been an exciting few weeks.
The former Giant and Saint had been settled at Moorabbin this time last year, but if 2020 is any indication, a week — let alone a year — is an eternity in football.
“I’m really enjoying it. I’m loving the club and the change has been really good,” he said.
“If you had told me that Metricon Stadium would be my home stadium and I’d be playing for the Bulldogs in 10 years when I was at the Giants, I would have said ‘what the hell are you talking about?’
“But it’s all going really well and looking forward to playing against the Gold Coast (on Thursday night). Hopefully we beat them on our ‘home deck’.”
WAG HITS OUT AT HUB HATERS
- Sam Landsberger
Premiership captain Easton Wood’s pregnant wife has hit out at suggestions the AFL industry was relocated to sunny Queensland for a holiday.
Tiffany Wood is in the Western Bulldogs’ Queensland hub and says countless football families are making selfless sacrifices to ensure COVID-19 doesn’t bankrupt the AFL.
Pictures this week showed players from Victorian clubs exercising on the Gold Coast beach and playing golf, while Melbourne remained in lockdown.
But Tiffany Wood said the move to Queensland was “not a holiday with bae”.
“We’ve been relocated because of work. This is a work environment,” Wood said on Instagram.
“Staff are missing their families and working around the clock.
“We are all doing all of this so the boys, clubs staff and AFL can put on a show for you and commercialise it so that the sport and clubs don’t go under in these challenging times.
“This is really important to remember. Hundreds of people working to put on games every week to ensure the future security of the sport and all of its employees (and fans!).”
Tiffany Wood urged critics to consider the situation AFL families were suddenly thrust into when Victoria’s second wave of COVID-19 hit.
“In no way was it my intention to ‘brag’ or ‘flaunt this situation’,” she said.
“And no. I couldn’t have done this alone at home. I’ve battled my own mental health challenges since 2011 and I would’ve crumbled.
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“I can know myself and accept this. I’m fully recovered and I still have moments and gateways that trigger me.
“We live level 3 restrictions. No beach (for leisure). No restaurants. No family.
“I’m not asking for compassion but I am asking SOME of you to walk a mile in my shoes before you shoot your mouth off and judge so quick.”