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AFTER a couple of seasons with Melbourne, it's great to know that I will have at least a further two years with the club.
This is great news for me personally, as I can see the positives ahead for the footy club – and there are definitely exciting times ahead.
Already we have a great young list, which the club has assembled over the past two years.
It was something I recognised and I really want to be part of this club going forward – hopefully we can have success down the track.
This was my first contract extension and it was a straight forward process.
I had one meeting with my manager Paul Connors and my father last week and I got to the footy club later that afternoon and Dean Bailey and Chris Connolly were congratulating me already.
For it to turn out that smoothly and that quickly was great news. I never wanted to have the negotiation drawn out. I wanted my loyalty towards Melbourne to come out in the negotiation and it certainly did.
I'm really happy and Melbourne is happy, so it's worked out well for both parties.
As I had been on a set contract, I was unsure what to expect in this process.
I presumed my manager and the club would start talking numbers, but it was completely different to that.
Melbourne list manager Tim Harrington spoke with Paul on a couple of occasions, but in the end it all happened pretty quickly.
I had no offers from any other club, besides reading some speculation in a newspaper, but I wasn't going to let anything get in the way, as it was between Melbourne and me.
All I knew was that Melbourne was keen to keep me and I was keen to commit.
Although the past two seasons have been tough – I've played in five wins from 37 matches – I've really enjoyed my time at the club and made some great friendships.
The coaches, players, past players, officials, coterie groups and supporters have been great and I honestly don't think there would be many other sporting organisations which have pulled off two functions like the 'Debt Demolition'.
That's a credit to Jimmy Stynes and the legend that he is and everyone else at the club and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to stay here.
Despite some tough hurdles, there have been some highlights already.
Playing in the win over Fremantle at the MCG last year – when we were down by 53 points at half-time – we actually went into the rooms believing we could comeback.
That may sound hard to believe, but we knew if we played our best footy, we could win.
That win was the best victory I've ever played in.
Brad Green and Cameron Bruce have been two guys I have bonded particularly well with. Coming fresh out of high school and into the footy club, these guys took me under their wing, which was great. They were amazing.
Brad in particular has been great. He was living around the corner when I started and if I had to pay him back for all of the lifts he gave me, I'd owe him a trip around Australia.
It was great getting guidance from two of the senior guys at the club.
And although there are all sorts of players and ages at the club, the one thing that we all have in common is playing for Melbourne – something I relish.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
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