James Stewart feels right at home at Essendon, but knows there’s more to life than AFL footy

FOOTY was once an all-consuming passion for James Stewart. But the one-time Giant tells JON RALPH how he’s changed, and why Essendon was the club for him.

JAMES Stewart has lived the life of a football obsessive and found it incompatible with success.

As a Giants forward with big dreams he spent his first seasons thinking of nothing else.

If a hobby or sideline project didn’t contribute to his AFL aspirations, it wasn’t worth doing.

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Selected by GWS at No. 27 in the 2012 national draft when famously overlooked by father-son candidate, he thought it was the only way to play.

The footballer that jogs out onto the MCG for his first Anzac Day clash on Wednesday is still as desperate for success as ever.

Yet the player who has kicked 10 goals in the first four rounds also realises those goals no longer define him.

James Stewart (far right) arrived at GWS with Kevin Sheedy as coach and alongside Aidan Corr, Kristian Jaksch, Jono O'Rourke, Lachie Whitfield and Lachie Plowman.

He knows everyone wants to talk about why Collingwood overlooked him that first time, dad Craig publicly upset they officially shunned him leading into his Year 12 exams.

As he revealed to the Herald Sun this week, the Pies were a live option when he returned to Melbourne at the end of 2016.

But he is more interested in talking about his journey to becoming a well-rounded person who also happens to play AFL.

“I absolutely love footy. Game day is the best day of the week. You are so excited, it gives you so much energy,’’ he said.

“You get that feeling you had as a kid, why you fell in love with the game. It’s been great to get back to feeling like that in Melbourne.

“But after five years in the system, I’ve found it’s so important to be able to not let football take over your life.

“When I first came into the system I almost went too rigid in terms of going into training and playing.

“I was almost borderline OCD with the way I approached it.

Essendon's James Stewart is a key of the Bombers’ forward set up. Pic: Michael Klein

“I have been able to simplify it and strip it back and it’s helped me both relax and help my footy also perform better. Essentially keeping your work ethic within the four walls here and working hard on game day but also being able to live your life outside that.”

Teammates will attest to 24-year-old’s sharp eye for fashion away from the confines of Essendon’s training base.

“I have got a bit of a diverse range of interests. I am really into my art and fashion as well, movies, I am doing a course part-time (commerce/arts),’’ he says.

“You need to stimulate yourself in different ways. Mum is a photographer so I guess I got the artistic streak from her, I love going to galleries and seeing exhibits, I keep an eye on fashion and trends, I am interested in that field.

“In Sydney I had a couple of favourite galleries up there, so it’s good to find an outlet.”

Some GWS players arrive in Sydney counting down the days until their return, but for Stewart his move home was always about opportunity.

Former GWS coach Kevin Sheedy told Essendon’s recruiters not to miss him, but the Pies also came hard.

Stewart could easily have been a Magpie. Pic: Michael Klein

Stewart confirms their approach, but ultimately decided not to head to the club where his father Craig played 115 games.

“I think I definitely entertained it at some points and there was a part of me that was really interested in that, but at the end of the day Essendon was the best fit for me,” he says.

“I think in a way I wanted a clean slate. It was club that was really attractive, had great facilities which is important to me because I am a pretty hard worker and put in a lot of time outside training to get my body right.

“But it was also probably the nature of coming to a club where essentially it’s a clean slate. The other thing that was extremely attractive was I felt like the players were in the right age bracket.

“I can be part of a future going forward at a club where the core group of players are around my age and have a work ethic to improve every day which is infectious.”

Collingwood believed at one point it might have secured him, yet Stewart finally feels at home.

Having signed an initial two-year at Essendon, his management and the club are working through a long-term extension.

Stewart says the Bombers were the “best fit” for him. Picture: Mark Stewart

“There has been a bit of dialogue with the club at the moment which is really positive and it’s heading in the right direction,’’ he said.

“There are a lot of games to play out this year but I would love to get something wrapped up so I can be an Essendon player for many more years. I am hoping that can happen sooner rather than later.”

Stewart was only one year old when the Anzac Day tradition between these two teams started, having grown up dreaming he might one day take part for Collingwood.

“It’s such a privilege to play on the day. You grew up watching these games and witnessing the huge rivalry between these two clubs, I have always pictured myself being on this stage one day and now I am.”

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