Jordan Roughead takes us inside the unforgettable 30-second team song and recounts his after Collingwood’s Round 1 win
Jordan Roughead was voted into the leadership group after just one season at Collingwood. And he vows to do it differently at his new club after his role as vice-captain at the Bulldogs changed him as a person.
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Jordan Roughead was surrounded by goats near a children’s farm in Collingwood enjoying the stillness.
It had been an “excruciating” week wading through the emotion and consequence of deciding whether or not to play footy in Round 1.
Before the AFL Players’ Association teleconference he was one of the players struggling with the concept of pulling the boots on when everyone else in the community was staying home.
“There was a level of concern from our footy department about players and staff and whether the game was going to go ahead, and just how all of it would be perceived by the public,” Roughead said.
“There were many different levels of anxiety.”
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Roughead, 29, was thinking about his 89-year-old grandmother, his father who had had some recent health battles as well as a teammate’s dad, who had just come out of surgery.
So when the defender tried to go on his favourite run up the hills on the north side of Richmond, the gas tank was empty.
Instead he sat down on the grass amid the goats and had the kind of moment many of us have experienced amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus crisis.
“In the off-season and the pre-season, I spend a bit of time around there, running up hills and around the river,” Roughead said.
“But as I got there (this time) I reckon my motivation was at an all-time low, to be honest.
“So I thought I would sit there for 10 minutes and chill-out. It was nice to have a little hiatus from having a think about it all.
“I almost thought ‘Geez it would be nice to be a goat at the moment, just chewing on the grass, and having no idea about what was going on in the world’.”
The contrasting emotion in the days and nights either side of Round 1 had perhaps never been more stark for Roughead, who counts among his excellent career a Western Bulldogs’ premiership, being vice-captain, swapping clubs, and then a profoundly impressive first year at Collingwood.
Perhaps he was the recruit of the season for 2019, given the Pies effectively got him for a packet of peanuts. Even at the time, the swap for a fourth-round draft pick (No. 75) seemed staggeringly cheap.
And what is so special about the culture at Collingwood, he said, was most certainly on display in the 30-odd seconds of the Magpies’ team song after their demolition job on his old mates at the Western Bulldogs in Round 1.
Instead of everybody doing the same thing arm-in-arm, some of the Collingwood players went into dance mode as they entered the change rooms.
Jordan De Goey smiled like a split watermelon, Brodie Grundy took off Donald Glover’s signature skip, Darcy Moore pulled out a dab salute and coach Nathan Buckley couldn’t have looked more proud of a bunch of men feeling happy to be absolutely themselves.
Although they couldn’t touch each other, Roughead said the closeness and connection in that moment was powerfully uplifting.
The premiership swingman will cherish it forever, he said.
“There was a really unique emotional feeling, and just such a strong connection for me,” he said.
“Because it was our people making that moment really special.
“I say this knowing how much everyone has been affected by what is going on, but some of the anxiety and uncertainty heading into Round 1 was almost tangible around the footy club.
“And (as footballers) we connect through touch, we have always done it, we will always do it.
“Guys instinctively high-five and celebrate goals by hugging, so staff were aware it was a strange experience for us and for them, without the crowd.
“But the selflessness of the club staff to make our entry into the room and the song so special in the circumstances made all of us feel pretty incredible.”
There were also some humorous aspects. Josh Thomas, who is more stockbroker than break dancer, “didn’t know what to do with himself”.
“If you watch it again, have a look at Josh Thomas. You’ve never seen a more uncomfortable-looking person in your life,” Roughead said laughing.
“But you see Darcy Moore dabbing.
“It is what all footy clubs are trying to create – an environment where all the people are comfortable expressing themselves and who they are.
“You say ‘Bucks’ has fostered it, and that is absolutely true, but it is also really player-driven.
“From Pendles, who is a unique personality himself, right through to ‘Bruzzy’ (Brayden Maynard), Brodie Grundy and Jordy De Goey.
“We have guys who are really eccentric and want to express themselves in different ways and that’s something we want to celebrate really well.”
But then the devastation hit on Sunday night when the AFL made the call to postpone the season, and then especially on Monday when the club began standing down about 80 per cent of staff.
Roughead got on the phone to ring some of those people. His care was genuine, and part of why he has become such a popular teammate, in only one year at Olympic Park.
“I just wanted to lend an ear to listen, and let people know they could talk, and that they could speak to me about what they were going through,” he said.
“You just want to be there for them, but the (emotional) impact after the phone call was probably greater.
“That’s where I had an understanding of the plans in peoples’ lives and how they’ve been working for years or decades to setup and have gone from that to being out of work, in only a few days.
“So we went from having this amazing experience together on Friday night to Monday where people are being laid off or stood down left right and centre.
“The time span just didn’t allow for anyone to brace for it, to get themselves ready in any way.
“We need to be there for each other through what is going to be a pretty sh**y period for a lot of people.”
The premiership swingman is back working out and pushing up the hills again, after the club-encouraged short break.
“They wanted us to get away from footy for a little bit, whether it was guys getting back to their families,” he said.
“The focus was on making sure we were as happy and as healthy as we can be at the moment. Footy wasn’t the most important thing.”
Like everyone, the 200cm stopper had one of those new awkward, no-touching greetings with teammate Jack Madgen as they hooked up for a run and a one-on-one kick on Monday.
More than anything, Roughead can’t wait to embrace his mates again.
Or anyone, for that matter.
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“If anything, I think I have been more social in the past eight days or so, than I have been beforehand,” he said.
“I miss people. I miss high-fiving blokes and being surrounded by 60 people every day.
“We have been using a bit of ‘Houseparty’ (communication app) Facetime, and sending texts all the time.
“But I as I said to my wife the other day, ‘I’m going to hug so many people when this is all over’.
“People I don’t know, I don’t care. I’m going to walk down the street hugging people. I just miss that.”
I’D NEVER SIT IN JUDGMENT AGAIN: ROUGHEAD
– Jay Clark
Collingwood defender Jordan Roughead says he would never again sit in judgment of a player’s indiscretion like he did as Western Bulldogs’ vice-captain.
The 29-year-old backman was voted into the leadership group at Collingwood after only one season at his new club and said his decision to switch clubs was unquestionably the right move.
But he said his views on leadership groups had changed, in that players should not have to hand down punishments to their peers for misdemeanours.
“I was vice-captain for one season, and I didn’t really enjoy that experience as much as I thought that I would, and that’s because I probably changed in it,” Roughead said.
“I probably felt like I had to be that person who was judge and jury, or not that, but I was asked to tell one of the players what their punishment was going to be for an indiscretion.
“And it didn’t really sit well with me, but because of that position I felt like I had to do it.
“Now I would have the confidence, if that ever happened again, I would say it’s not my job to do that.”
Roughead, 29, said a big part of his leadership role, other than shutting down the opposition’s gun key forwards, was helping support the players on the fringe of senior selection.
“My job is to represent this playing group to you (coaches) and to give voice to guys who are probably in positions 40-45 on the list,” he said.
“Guys who may not otherwise be heard. I want to speak for them, I want to speak for the players at the club and get the best outcomes for them and the footy club.”
A premiership ruckman at the kennel, Roughead was dropped to the VFL in 2018, but said his decision to join Collingwood had been professionally and personally rewarding.
He finished 10th in the Magpies’ best and fairest last year, and formed one of the best defensive units in the league alongside Darcy Moore, Brayden Maynard and Jack Crisp.
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“The move has been perfect and I wouldn’t have scripted it in any other way,” he said.
“The things I’ve really learned about myself, when you are an 18-year-old and you get thrust into a football environment, maybe the pressure is implied that you have to fit a certain mould.
“Whereas, at 27-28 when (I) left the Dogs and went to the Pies, I was more confident in myself and who I am as a person.
“I felt like I could walk in and be myself and I’m really grateful and feel really fortunate that this person, who I am, has been very quickly accepted.
“I have been made to me feel like a valued person in the organisation, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that and I really want to give some back to the club and its people through this time.”
Originally published as Jordan Roughead takes us inside the unforgettable 30-second team song and recounts his after Collingwood’s Round 1 win
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