New draftee Aaron Kite
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WITH NEW faces occupying a quarter of the Crows’ senior list, Adelaide is preparing to open a new chapter in the club’s history.
Adelaide’s 2007 NAB AFL Draft intake will be responsible for writing much of that history, but in the meantime, they’re writing for afc.com.au.
Over the summer months Adelaide’s newest recruits will share their thoughts and experiences, exclusive to afc.com.au, as they settle into life as AFL players.
MOVING away from home is tough at any age let alone as a 17-year-old boy who is drafted to an interstate AFL club where there are no familiar faces.
For Adelaide’s six NAB AFL draftees and Victorian rookie Ed Curnow, most of 2008 will be spent with host families close to the club.
But in the few weeks leading up to the Christmas break they are sharing a roof with their older teammates and members of the Crows staff.
Prized first-round draft pick Patrick Dangerfield is bunking with Scott Stevens, Rob Shirley is in charge of Victorian duo Aaron Kite and Myke Cook, Graham Johncock is playing host to Jarrhan Jacky and Tony Armstrong and Andy Otten are residing with senior staffers.
Aaron Kite writes:
Just from living with Rob I’ve been able to learn about how he prepares for training, which includes the foods I should be eating and when I need to hydrate my body and when I don’t.
I’m still only 17 so leaving my family behind in Victoria has probably been the hardest thing about being drafted, but I’m not finding it too bad at the moment because we’re so busy all the time.
I speak to my family back home probably every second day. Mum misses me heaps!
I have an older brother and a younger sister too. My sister is alright, but my brother misses me a bit I think because we used to do a fair bit together growing up.
I haven’t discovered any of Rob or Cooky’s bad habits yet thankfully. We all get along quite well together, so it’s been pretty smooth sailing so far.
I get on with Cooky really well. We didn’t know each other before we got drafted, but we do everything together now.
Rob’s cooked just about every night - Myke and I haven’t cooked anything yet! The washing and cleaning gets done probably twice a week, so that’s not too bad.
I’ve been pretty tired after training the last couple of weeks so all I’ve wanted to do is sleep. We went for a hit of golf the other day and that wasn’t too bad. I’m not much of a golfer at all and neither is Cooky, but Rob went alright.
Jarrhan Jacky writes:
Graham’s done a great job looking after me. He’s helped me get used to routine things, like something as simple as packing your bag for the day. We do a lot of different sessions each day, like on the bike, in the pool and also in the gym, so you need to bring all the right clothes, footwear and equipment with you. Just watching him, seeing what he does and how he prepares the night before has been really helpful.
I lived with my mum, dad and little sister back home in Perth. I miss my family every now and again, especially when it comes to the weekend or when we have a bit of spare time, but we’re so busy. When you get home in the evenings all you want to do is sleep!
I speak to them every night when I can, but usually when I get home I have dinner then I go to bed, so with the time difference in Perth it doesn’t always work out.
They’ve called me a few times while I’ve been asleep actually, but it’s always good to have a chat and see what everyone is up to.
Graham drives me to where I need to be and he’s not a bad cook either. I can cook a little bit. I don’t have any speciality dishes, but I can cook just about anything.
We went out to dinner with Bunji [Andrew McLeod] one night last week, so it’s all starting to sink in now. I’ve been around the club nearly every day and without my car, so I’ve been stuck here pretty much!
I’m getting my car trucked over in a couple of weeks so hopefully it won’t take too long. I feel like a bit of a kid relying on Graham all the time and the boys have to come and pick me up if we want to go out to dinner.
I don’t think I have any bad habits. Graham hasn’t had a go at me yet, so I must be going alright. He’ll probably say I ask too many questions! We’re both pretty similar and laid back, so we just take it as it comes. He’s a little bit messy, but he’s looking after me so I can’t say anything too bad about him!
We’ve been out for dinner a few times with a lot of the other boys as well. I’ve just been learning a bit about Adelaide because I’d never been here before I got drafted.
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