Hawthorn small forward Paul Puopolo is living his AFL dream
AS Paul Puopolo sat on his earthmoving digger toiling away in the baking summer heat of 2009-10 he knew he wanted more.
Hawthorn
Don't miss out on the headlines from Hawthorn. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AS PAUL Puopolo sat on his earthmoving digger toiling away in the baking summer heat of 2009-10 he knew he wanted more.
The spring-heeled kid who had set junior long-jump records in Adelaide had seen his AFL dreams slip by in his top-age junior year courtesy of a broken back.
Drifting along with SANFL club Norwood, he couldn’t help thinking of those days when his father Frank took him to Adelaide games as a kid.
“I used to think, ‘I want to be part of this”, says Puopolo.
RECRUITING STARS: HOW HAWKS HAVE OWNED THE OFF-SEASON
BIG CALL: THE TEAM THAT WILL STOP HAWTHORN’S FOUR-PEAT
Two fateful moments intersected to change the course of his life.
Puopolo caught wind that AFL teams would need mature-aged players given the expansion era was starting, and his new Norwood coach Nathan Bassett was making his mark.
He asked Bassett what he needed to do to chase his dream. The blunt reply was to drop 5kg and get himself seriously fit.
Seven years later newly recontracted Puopolo’s life has become his boyhood fantasy.
He has never played less than three finals in each of his five completed seasons at Hawthorn, can boast three premierships and will marry fiance Carmel in October.
And yet some would say Puopolo is lucky to have made it onto an AFL list, the 28-year-old believes his career has been shaped by those challenging circumstances.
“I loved AFL but I had missed the boat when I cracked my back at 18 and it set me back physically and mentally and I came into the season unfit,’’ he said this week.
“From there I went off the boil and lost interest in footy but as soon as the new teams came out they said clubs were looking for older players.
“I knew it was my opportunity so I gave it pretty much everything I could.
“I was working in civil construction on the sites where all the houses were built with all the pipes and work that gets done to set up the land.
“My day started at 7am and I would finish at 4pm and then go straight to training and finish at 8pm and then go to sleep and then do it again the next day.
“It was a good experience, it make me a stronger person working and playing footy. Sometimes you can come into the game as a young kid but I came in with a real strong mindset knowing exactly what I wanted to do.”
Bassett was stunned to see his newly motivated player had instead shed 8kg and immediately locked him into a back pocket and gave him his head.
All those cakes and buns at smoko on the work site made way for fresh air sandwiches.
“I wasn’t eating them every day but it was the occasional one treating yourself when I had worked really hard,’’ says Puopolo.
“I was really strict. I sacrificed that and it was the fittest I have ever been. I didn’t want any regrets. I didn’t want to leave anything behind and say I could have done this or that and got drafted.
“I didn’t want to be that person so that’s why I got drafted. It’s the way I play. I try to do everything I can even if it’s chasing someone 50m and not getting a touch.
“I don’t want to regret anything I don’t do in a game. That would just haunt me.”
Hawthorn would pounce at pick 66 in the 2010 national draft after Puopolo’s medicals with the Western Bulldogs had made him believe they might be his best chance.
All those years as the club’s energiser bunny — selflessly running, hauling down opponents after gut-busting runs — had typecast him as a forward pressure specialist.
Then he started taking hangers.
Then repeated the dose.
Then just never stopped.
This year he has 33 goals (after 29 last year and 22 the year before), but also a swag of high-flying marks as well as the last-minute matchwinner against Adelaide in Shaun Burgoyne’s 300th game.
Like Burgoyne, he arrived at the club to make a mid-season debut and has missed less than a dozen matches as he hits 132 matches full of momentum.
“I have always had that spring. I set a few records for a club called Magill. And then everyone shot up and I was left behind.
“I have always had the ability to jump but I think it took me a while to start going for them and having that licence.
“I took one and Clarko said, ‘If you can keep doing it, then do it’.
“So it’s a little bit of instinct. Me and Cyril (Rioli) have the licence to go for them but if we are not doing the right thing, Clarko will pull us up.”
That matchwinning goal in Round 5 came on a five-goal, 23-possession night where everything he touched turned to gold.
“A few of the guys had said to me there were under 30 seconds to go (when I marked the ball) and I had to try to take as much time off the clock as I could too.
“I like to run dead straight and keep my body in line with the goals and I was just happy to put it through for Shauny. I wanted him to be able to say it was a really close game and a good win.”
Life is going swimmingly off the field, Puopolo is dabbling in finance while aware he has his earthmoving trade to fall back on.
Earlier this year he surprised Carmel with the same shock tactics he uses to deceive the AFL’s small defenders.
HUGE FINAL: ‘WE NEED TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED’
LIST CHANGES: WHO IS GOING WHERE FOR 2017?
“We went to Hawaii where everyone thought I would propose but I didn’t do it there. She got home from work one day and was tired and a bit flat.
“So I just said you have got a package there. It had a piece of paper in it which said, “Look behind you”.
And she opened it up and said, “It’s just a piece of paper”. Then she read it and turned around and I was on one knee.”
They will marry back in Adelaide but Puopolo can hardly wait for the future: “I wouldn’t mind having a few more little Puopolos running around”.
‘Really refreshing’: Barrass opens up on Hawks move
Tom Barrass is a Perth boy but at the age of 29, he and his family made the decision to move to Melbourne for a new AFL club. He opens up on joining Hawthorn, coach Sam Mitchell and his new teammates.
‘Electric’ Darcy leads Bont-less Dogs to win over new-look Hawks
Marcus Bontempelli is more than confident he’ll be right for round 1, but without him it was the future of the Bulldogs who shone brightest against Hawthorn.