It doesn’t get more cult hero than this. Matthew “Spider” Burton has had one of the more fascinating careers your could imagine. From starting on the West Coast Eagles list to becoming an inaugural Docker, the former tallest ever AFL player breaks down his career journey on BackChat.
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And it was the hardest thing I have ever done you playing the first game for have you going to South Africa to play footy is ever been done since what was it like um coaching sandelin the boys around Kel just gave it to me John Blakey did did
You have an incident with him at all was just time I knew it was time And hello ladies and gentlemen back chat powered by Fleet Network powering the podcast this year very lucky to be joined by this man today Matthew spider Burton cult figure AFL status hello mate how are you he will spider it’s so good to have you here I I you walked in I was
Just very intimidated from the from the outset very SC he’s what his attitude or no he’s just just his you know tall man I’m tiny mate thanks for joining us um very very uh happy to have you in here now I don’t know if you’ve listened to many
Back chat episodes before I just assume you have but just in case you haven’t we asked the same question every guest we have on the show SP it’s the first question we ask every time around um we want to know your greatest sporting achievement but we know we know you can
Play footy right we know you’ve done all that we know great a sporting achievement not on the football field so Dan here um well established uh League spinner um as a Under 12 under 12’s Grand Final 5 for 16 uh didn’t win the Grand Final but put up some good figs
Try to carry the team that’s more important yeah that’s right was a 80 M hurdle champ state champion under nine um so could run jump over a few uh pieces of wood on the ground and then finish at the end what what what have you got outside of your football prow
Played across three clubs at AFL level bit of waffle foot2 what can you do other than footy great a sporting achievement does a ho in one count yes absolutely it does yeah I don’t we got long enough h i at all don’t worry tell what what happened
Where was it uh well I play at Coto Golf Club in swanborn Saturday morning just with three mates a couple of BS that I regularly play with we tee off on 10 11’s a PA three I should have hit 7even on I hit eight IR really hard and
Dragged it right down left and into the crab I thought all right so then played 1 it’s a par three I’m thinking I’m not going to make the same mistake it’s five IR but I’m going to hit a four IR nice and soft and just clipped it and Doc
Newman he called about halfway through the air he goes that’s going in and it was a slam dunk just St no that’s huge what did you do oh that was high as anything um the only blue was then we get around to the ninth and there’s water on Ninth I’ve kept playing the
Same ball and I’ve HD in the water you stupid so is that the you meant to sort of keep the ball and and get back well hanging up at H or something like that you know you didn’t want to go for a swim I was going to say been
Trying for the who maybe just head down to the C now we don’t usually do this but I think it’s relevant Ron Chopper um doing great things in golf uh he’s actually put a question across we ask our we ask our um our fans to put in questions
We’ll get to that a little bit later on but I think I should ask this now um he said ask him if he’s hit a fairway with his driver yet I’m sick of trying to teach him mate I tell you I got the worst coach in the
World Ron altero yes correct so um he’s a great coach and uh and he does it well and he does it with a sense of humor as in IE run Chopper so very good uh like that uh we do we ever hold one recently yes uh Chad Warner Chad Warner Chad War
The Sydney Swans um really can have a chat about your footy journey in career mate I think it’s pretty unique along the way I said that before the MS came on and you said really I think it is you played across three uh three clubs I
Won’t say sort of but West Coast freem manal North Melbourne um what was life growing up like for spider Burton though what what was life how was your upbringing your West Australian um were you sporty sporty family how did it go yeah yeah uh dad played 180 games for
Subie so him and Mom got divorced really early got two full Brothers uh I was the eldest there two and four years younger and we lived in a great area we lived in inoo um in a quiet area the next door neighbor there was two boys across the
Road Phil smart um the recruiting manager at freem M when we started uh up the laneway where the park was and nils’s the Knights the Davies family and they were mostly boys it was 90% boys and we just played footy and Cricket the whole time and if we weren’t playing
Footy and Cricket we were playing tennis and golf or stuff like that so it was awesome and and and then um in light of that it was really probably because of that upbringing that I you know I was lucky enough to have some success at footy um like kicking left
Foot kicking right foot handballing all of that sort of stuff I just we we just did it from zero years of age really with older kids with younger kids but you know it was just we’ just have breakfast and we’d leave we’d go home for lunch and then we’ be back doing
Whatever it was we were doing so were you tall as a kid uh I was like let’s say the tallest in the class to 12 13 and then from 13 to 17 just took off and went from sort of not maybe winning the best in feris but second or third at
Your Junior Club to getting a game for half a game um in the Ford pocket because I was first to training and last to leave because I just loved it but I just couldn’t get a kick I couldn’t get near it you know well actually the coach
Mel green Danny Green’s dad and Brendan green who was my age uh M he said you actually know where it is and you get there but the arms and the legs didn’t know what they were doing so I just had to grow into them so you weren’t always
Playing Rock oh not at that age Dan no mate honestly it was Ford pocket for a half because I loved it yeah so like so you you held for a long time the tallest player to ever play the game at 210 cm and I don’t know if some of these
Players are just standing on maybe High shoot they’ve got getting measured at 2 11 cuz there’s not many BLS getting taller than you so as you said you’re growing up you beat all arms and legs as a as a kid is there sort of to your 16
17 you go oh actually I know what I’m doing now I’m starting to feel like is it as a junior you start sort of growing into the bit or not really n didn’t it didn’t help um and my wife would argue I’m still like this I was really
Immature um and seriously I was so you know at 18 19 20 you know I was um probably not realizing sort of what was going on right um but you know I got invited to subiaco under the father Sun rule um in the under 19s the Colts
Because I was tall not CU I was good the first year would have probably played half the games but you know moreon as a project player the following year a few more then too old for it so you go up to reserves and it started to click about
That year you know I was so I was sort of 20 and then got drafted at the end of that year and I was probably just happy to get drafted you know more than realize the opportunity that you know was presented to me yeah so you drafted
The West Coast 1990 yeah coming to the footy Club it’s just been established 86 887 into the first few years you come into the footy Club an incredibly successful period of the footy Club so 91 and they play in a grand final lose 92 they play and win 94 they play and
Win um what what’s it like as a young kid who you know as you self describe immature what’s it like coming into successful era like that yeah um I was just happy to be there yeah and I remember Glenn jackovich who is probably two or three years younger he just
Trained like a lunatic now he’s an all-time great you know so um whereas I didn’t have that mentality you know I trained I didn’t miss a session and I did extras and all that sort of stuff but I didn’t have the maturity um and the want to do it like
Let’s say like Jacko did yeah um and you know I was gradually improving but not quickly and trying to put weight on but you know not really so it probably wasn’t until the opportunity got taken away from me and I went back to subak in
’94 that I then realized oh hang on a minute you know I’m starting to run out of um chances here so I can imagine sort of being at the club at that time during the you know success that um as a young kid it would it would be easy to think
Well this is just how AFL footy works this is what happens when you’re on AFL list yeah okay I’m not taking my opportunities but teams playing grand finals and they win and lose them you know was that the the success was just expected yeah on that
990 uh 91 I reckon they won the first third a 14 game straight that year um 92 they obviously win it you’re in the change rooms afterwards you know you’re all a part of it it was awesome and your mates you know I was living with danan
CM in that year so yeah um um so that was awesome but you know I look back upon that opportunity and going wow you know you just had a probably mentally gone a bit harder um it would have been um yeah things might have been different
So I heard you talk um about how in like those early days everyone just trained exactly the same so like you’re training exactly how Jacko trains just if you were to like obviously nowadays it’s sort of so specialized do you think that sort of played into it as well to
Um not getting an opportunity early uh maybe you know there was a line of thinking that maybe uh I just don’t do any training and I just do three months of Weights you know and maybe that would have been the right decision you know um
But um Brian cousins um Ben’s dad was my coach at subie um or the reserves coach at subie and he said you should be playing footy twice a week so you got these different sort of views of you know um I just needed to play to get
Some experience up and but I needed to put on probably 10 or 15 kilos as well and there was also a perception that I needed to put it on cuz I didn’t really put it on when I got to freem man but it turned out I was good enough to you know
To be able to play what were you buying so you’re 210 cim to what were you weighing uh when I joined West Coast I was 87 so when I which is skinny for that height it is yeah so my playing weight once I matured was 105 right so right
Mick mold housee as a coach uh yeah um you had some great coaches through career I did I did listen um uh Mick actually um he wasn’t a fan I think I was always trying to be funny and um and again probably immature and he could see that and a project player and
He didn’t want a project player he wanted success no having it you know so um he actually we got on a plane when he was coaching Conwood and uh we’d play I was playing for north and we’d been up in camra playing a blockbuster
Um and um he got on the plane he says listen I didn’t think you’d make it so well done on you he didn’t need to say that a backand well yeah but I sort of picked up his Vibe you know it was his way of almost apologizing yeah yeah I sold a
Dummy at training one night and yelled at me pulled me aside who do you think you are thorough Merit and thorough mer I [ __ ] sold it too put on the left and hit the player n so I wasn’t allowed to do that so um but I just wasn’t good
Enough at that age group and um and and and again it’s that opportunity you know I’ve already mentioned it gets taken away from you it makes you hungry yeah so and that’s sort of what happened then sort of ’94 for subie and then and then
Freem manal came in you used to be able to sell candy I’ve seen a bit of footage of you’re selling candy out there for someone so tall you’re agile yeah it was pretty funny one day um we’re at Waverly playing essendon and uh David kelor ended up
Becoming a teammate at North and we laughed about it but um I I went to kick it and I realized he was going to smother so I pulled it away at the very last second and he went past and sold it and I oh I didn’t hit Peter man Peter
Man made me look good it was the absolute floater of all time and the boys around kelor just gave it to him like nothing else he’s the biggest skinniest freaking Gods ever put wind into and he sold you a dummy you must look like a dumb it was so
Funny so yeah I got lucky a few times there’s there’s footage on YouTube you sell you sell candy five times in a how do you Reon Pagan handled that one you were just standing I put my hand up to apologize to him like this and the crowd all
Roared you know because it end up going forward and someone was having a shot for goal and that made him even worse cuz then the crowd liked it you know so he thought that you were giving it to the crowd that’s great yeah were you doing it to the crowd you just changed
No no no I was doing it to him cuz I knew knew he would and he come down at quarter time or three quter time and G with me but you know we laughed about it afterwards that’s very funny so when you get cut from West Coast um oh yeah cut
Yeah cut from West Coast the the list sizes came down so they were they did but again my didn’t want me and nizy was a fan because you know I’d been at subie with nizy and he wanted he wanted to keep me and all that sort of stuff but
Um yeah and the L size came down and i’ sort of wasn’t a project player as much anymore you know so how did you get to Foo then how does that come about um yeah so 94 back at subie I was living with Phil smart at the time actually so
He’s the clamont footing manager um he gets the job as the national recruiting manager for free for freem manal um Jared n’s the coach uh so there’s an interview lined up I got on the other side of the table Jared nisham and Jared m Neil um who was
A footy manager and he’s a good friend of mine now uh and Wayne Loxley the subaco footy manager of me on this side of the table it’s at subie footy club and N goes I don’t think you’re good enough just don’t you just haven’t got it you just
You’re slow laterally and Jared’s um nation was very opinionated so I went in thinking flat and he go so tell me why you should and I don’t know what I said and you know it wasn’t a lot cuz I was disappointed that he’d gone in with that
View m and he goes I listen your friends with Phil smart come to training we’ll see what happens all right so I get to train there’s 90 people there so so they probably at that stage recruited you know um the guns like Ben Allen and Scotty Waters um Peter man but then
There was The Other Guys sort of like Tony Delaney Todd Ridley you know that didn’t have that profile but there’s probably 15 or 20 AFL guys then there was probably another 10 or 15 sort of gun waffles and then the rest of us were waffle players
Just trying out that they could just put on the list you know um uh for extras because again they’re allowed extra players I think they’re allowed don’t quite me but I thought that was 52 but it could be maybe 45 or something like that so I sounds like just like an open
Training for people to well they invited them yeah but yeah and so it was all the waffle sort of stars at the time you know all being overlooked by drafts and that sort of stuff and so and it was the hardest thing I have ever done bar
Nothing it was so hard it was six mornings and five nights I had a job in between so I was um with um Timmy colins at access Business Machines and with my mate Dave snow from subia snow was trying out as well so the three mornings were alternating running and weights and
The runs were quite difficult we’re at bigton Water Polo um and so you’d run out sort of sixks and then run back and then you’d have some breakfast and you’d have a shower um you’d go to work and you’d come back and night time was training and night time was at least two
Hours and Jared had a lot to teach um and he was awesome so um so that was six uh mornings Five Nights from I think it was October the 30th or the 31st all the way through to the end of January and it was just so hard I remember getting home
Saturdays after training and you just get into bed and you sleep from like 9: till 2: um and then you’d be fresh enough to go out Saturday night so and then Sunday behave yourself and Monday morning back again sort of thing so it was really difficult but the five
Nights um and this is where I improved this is where I went from a a good average waffle player to being able to play AFL footy it was all because of Jared Nation his education and his training and I used to stand at the back obviously being the tallest of this
Group and he’d say something and i’ go wow no one’s ever said that to me before and I by that stage I played 100 waffle games I’d been on AFL list for three years um and I’m going wow and I put it into practice and then he do a drill
That did that and then you know and then another night later I go wow no one’s said that either and so I went you know and because you’re training like that you’re going to get fit yeah so you’re getting fitter you’re um you’re improving you’re learning like nothing
Else and it was a real real privilege and it was the difference um for me from um from making that progression so it was awesome this is the Ina 30 Squad this is the first first year so I don’t know if we’ve spoken to anyone who’s
Surely Mack was he down there yeah yeah he was there so but we probably didn’t Focus too much on that process was West Coast was established in here and fro is this new club that’s trying to start up and you got you know 100 people trying
To get get on this list like it’s it’s like a boot camp by the sounds of it you know trying to trying to improve it’s pretty interesting concept like it’s a a brand new footy Club no no team song and assuming no facilities ah no facilities
Man it gets worse um well not yeah worse um the South fromo footy Club had arranged for a Motocross um on freem manal oval so we had to go and find rals to go and train at so we were training at Troy Park um um and Troy Park sort of
Like remind me of an old tip you know it was lumpy and he’s an IFL Club train now listen we didn’t know the difference and it didn’t overly worry us um South forano we had the visitors change rooms and we just had a hook so um um Chuck
Nish um he found out that I think John Curt and high school getting rid of some of their lockers um I feel bad about the sign Rider um we then we got a trailer we dropped him at the sign Rider’s house Scully um he spray painted the more
Purple and um we got some help to hang them up so we we’re arranging stuff like that so yeah it wasn’t the most sophisticated um but I wouldn’t change it for anything it was awesome yeah yeah uh exit meetings and uh and after I finished playing and stayed in Melbourne
Finished playing AFL um I actually got involved with the AFL Players Association um sort of like through the financial you know exits and that sort of stuff and but I was sitting next to a guy one night so they just cut people so you know I was sort of wondering how it
Was happening but sort of Dan you’re not coming back tomorrow I will don’t you can just go to work tomorrow sort of thing but I remember this time so what happens was let’s say you know how recently it was 40° if it was ever five nights of training they might do a
Wednesday or Thursday it’s going to be 40° we go down to bigon water polo we’ll play water polo but we’ll train the same scenarios that we’ve been training here but we’re doing it at bton and I’m sitting next to this fell I’m not going to say his name he was an established
Waffle B he played 100 he would have played 200 games in the end he’s putting his boots on and nisham comes over and goes oh you won’t need them tonight he goes why are we going to water polo he goes no mate you’re cut and he just turn around walk off but
That was the ’90s that’s sort of how it happened no exit interview no psychologist and player welfare manager no footy manager sort of sitting there waiting for you to come out of the exit meeting getting told you a cut it was just this bl’s dreams got sort of
Squashed and he was and done and that was true yeah yeah yeah he just had to sort of put his bag over his shoulder and go to his car so if you’d see the like coach walking around you just waiting for him to walk up to you like
I’ve heard stories of people you know getting made redundant work and like the the pr persons coming around with the HR person it’ just be scary if he’s walking towards you think like probably going to get cut yeah and myself and Brad we were the last two names on the list so you’re
Sort of always wondering you know what’s you know are they coming at me and all this sort of stuff so so you make the squad though you make the team yep you’re playing the first game for Freo yep big that’s a big that’s a big moment first game for football yeah it was
Great so a couple of things me and Peter Bell were the only two that played every preseason game in the last preseason game so two weeks they we we had the week off um before the season started they have this wisdom to arrange for freem Manel and brisban
To meet in Melbourne and we played at Waverly Park and it was 40° wow and you can imagine the atmosphere wavy you know like it’s a 60 70,000 people Stadium there’s no one there like no one it’s 40° in Melbourne and I’m playing Roger Merritt and Damen Burke you know and I didn’t
Play very well thought ah stuff me chances up here you know it had a really good preseason I was playing well through the preseason games so you got to wait you know you go to wait anyway I understand um Neil danur went into bat
Big time for me so he said you know he’s had a great preseason so the last game got forgotten I got chosen in the first ever game so it was awesome you know it was awesome from a number of fronts um you know I’m a month off turning 25
That’s old for an AFL debut I understood the significance that it was a club’s first ever game you know and 100 years later you played in that first ever game um um was at the MCG um I’ve been through a lot you know MISD drafts and getting cut from AFL
Clubs that sort of stuff so personally it was a great achievement you know running onto the ground uh first bounce take the first bounce a bit of a natural ball Richmond sort of Push It Forward after a bit of scrimmage uh Dale kick gets it and and I’ve um taken off to the
Fat side of the ground the MCG members the MCC members side of the ground run out there uh Greg deer hasn’t bothered to check me check on where I am and K’s kicked it to me so I’ve taken the first ever Mark for free m you can put that in
Your stiff ship file so I get it and I’m out there on my own and I run about 5 or 8 m and I just kick it and I kicked it to the 50 m line like you know you just you don’t kick it to the 50 you know
Kick it deep inside I must have seen someone there so I’ve kicked it right to the 50 so I get the first ever message from the runner don’t [ __ ] kick it there so I I’ve got two first and I never get remembered I’m you know bit disappointed I sort open that you know
There’s a park for Todd really kicking the first goal you know what about a plk for the first message from the from the Run hey we might be able to do something about that spot just above the phone just a little PL yeah on the bench every week SP spider
Yeah that’s you play well that game 21 touches seven marks one of those the first Mark 13 hit that’s a pretty good game for yeah yeah I don’t think I ever got more than 21 touches in a game ever again that’s right you got to do it once
I think I ever did in my whole career yeah that’s special really good um you played in the first derby as well first derby um cuz that that first game you lost by Five Points um which is a close one leading into this Derby which I think was around
Seven yeah and so you you’d you’d actually continued and the following Friday I reckon it was we played Essen at home and they kicked a goal after the siren for us to lose by seven or eight points yes um so we almost won that as well uh we won round three against
Fitzroy at Western oval um you know we beat Sydney I remember the week before at the Wacker so we’re three and three we’re thinking that we were going all right and you were we got beaten up by by the big boys the following week yeah big time was
There a buildup to that in was huge yeah yeah uh no not uh Jared didn’t overly go over the top but there was big locally yeah locally it was huge it was a big deal it was the opening of the grand stand at subie over they’d redeveloped
The um they redone the the grass and all that sort of stuff so yeah it was it was it was a real big deal and it was probably a little bit disappointing that um you know we got smashed by 80 points they were defending Premier this is
95 fin year before they they had all the superstars yes um what’s your overall sort of memories of playing with Foo because you really established yourself as an AFL player like you said you hadn’t played game at West Coast but um you know you went uh 17 games in that
First year 15 11 22 um you became vice captain of footy Club Club I mean it’s a you got fond memories of time at oh for sure yeah life’s better for the opportunity you know know forever you know I moved in across the road from Phil smart when I
Was 3 years old so you know thank goodness for those sort of moments you know yeah um for what Jared Naish taught me and for the opportunity to play AFL so which is what I always wanted to do as a kid so um it was awesome yeah how
Did you go um traveling every second week on a plane yeah um we got to ask that question a lot Dan um I really enjoyed it um going there so I love being around the boys uh we played this car game called cribbage um so we had a
Crib board so you know you can play it in two three fours even Sixers so um so we played that we had a lot of fun doing that you stay you know quite nice hotels you eat good food um you’re going to play offl footy so all that’s exciting
The blue is um invariably we lost than you got to come back um you’re tired um it might not sound like much but the flight home’s an extra hour than the flight over so that that was a bit of a a downer was that piece of it but all in
All I quite enjoyed it and we embraced the um uh the travel side of it um it was interesting when I got to North Melbourne and you go to Sydney for a game and you just go up in the air and then you have a cup of tea and go down
You just go wow you know so that business class for you um not in those days um occasionally but very very rarely but the emergency exit row yeah a good point I don’t mind that so it’s not the end of the world so yeah it’s very
Good so you get you finish up in ’99 you’re Vice Captain in ’99 and then you you finish at the footy Club yeah that’s that’s rare yeah yeah it was had extra year on my had another year on my contract uh Daman drumman and again he
He did Apologize he only that was only 12 months ago I ran into him at the races um that Derby Day and uh he said listen I made a blue I said I said my life’s better for moving away so um so thank you you know I was with a whole
Bunch of Melbourne Friends that weren’t even involved in footy that I’d you know met so point so um so at the time you know you’re pretty flat with it listen um Chris bom was a captain he got caught I got caught um yeah it’s just circumstantial but you
Know was a bit of cleaning house if they if they’re getting rid of the two captains so they was there more cuts to that yeah maybe um you know he obviously wasn’t happy with the the direction of where it was all going though they’ lost
The last six games in a row it would have been some pressure on him so you um you thought you were staying in wa after that though didn’t you did you got good M you boy you’ve actually said a couple of things already today your researchers
Dan you said something yeah so uh you want me to tell that story so you think you get if you out west coast go to freem manal freem manal goodbye and you think West Coast is picking you up yeah they got pick 39 that’s right yeah you
You’re even on with that so do you know who was pick 39 was no yeah it’s Kane Kane Monroe was it so um so I met my wife in April 98 we got engaged later that year um so 12 months later she was playing for the Orioles
And the Perth and netball team nice so um so she’s probably going to retire but she’s not sure um West Coast nizy again you know I’ve always had a good relationship with with nizy you know he sort of says all right then we’re going to take you with the
Last pick you know and okay yeah I’m great that’s so good you know we my wife and I just brought a house in Perth together um you know I used to have a saying you know was probably a little bit ahead of myself to be honest but if
I didn’t know someone Perth I’d go up and introduce myself you know sort of you know knew a lot of people so um kind of a big deal yeah yeah and so life was going pretty good except for the footy of course you get cut and then n Rings
You up you know um uh listen this is what we’ve decided yeah great so the draft was a Sunday morning um on channel 7 so my wife and I went down to Mar River for a holiday just the last Hara came back Friday or Saturday Friday I
Get this random um phone call we’re driving up Caves Road it was a Melbourne number 03 and so I answered it and goes uh there’s Dennis Pagan here I go H good day Dennis how you going he goes yeah good he always called me Matthew forever
Yep yep very well thank you Matthew um he said how would you feel about coming to North Melbourne and I said well I said that’s not going to happen Dennis uh West Coast could take me with their last pick pick 39 and because you guys are traded for Lee hbert you don’t come
Into the draft to pick 59 so you can’t so I you know I think it’s you know it’s not worthy of you know much of a conversation and he goes well how would you feel about it and then we’re driving at K Road and back and then this is $
1999 you know we’re not running on telra 5G here so it cuts out anyway he Rings back I said I thought youd changed your mind and he roared with laugh thought it was hilarious wasn’t very funny but he just thought yeah yeah so anyway um
You know you know I wasn’t rude I was always going to say yeah of course I’ll come you know now I’m full well westc yeah of course you know so anyway the draft uh Sunday morning I was best man for Jason narish it was his engagement party Saturday night they had the mid
Strength and the um full strength KS mixed up so all the old fellas are sidewise cuz I thought they drinking mid strength and they drinking full strength yeah it was hilarious sorry that’s very yeah Sunday morning comes uh pck 39 oh here we go Dar you know um
West Coast ask for extra time so back in those days they ask for extra time debate’s going on I’m thinking oh hang on we’re not a bit of trouble here you know right and um anyway they went with K Monroe and I’m thinking oh all right
So the MS actually then took off into the bedroom and watched the TV in the bedroom and I’m in the loung room was she watching the drive or she no no she was watching the drive cuz yeah now it’s now I’m baring for North melbour so their first pick pick
59 uh Clayton last got from West birth I’m thinking oh no you know anyway I got to 72 and of course they draft me all right so um and all of a sudden Dennis is on the phone so hello Matthew we’ve got you it’s great news and and and
Dennis would always ask a question but you’ve got to answer it the right way he’s asking on purpose and he says so when do you get here and I go when do we start Dennis he goes love the Wii Matthew love the Wii so um so I you know jumped on the plane
And and and away we went and and that was interesting because you know you’re turning into a footy Club you know I got cut you know Vice Captain extra year of a contract by the team that finished second last on a six lost burner and I’ve been picked up by the premiers so
Um you know it’s quite humbling you know I said to Dennis he took me out for lunch the first day and I said why you know why why do you want to do this like I sort of didn’t get it and he goes well they wanted Cory mckernan one of your
Former guests on the show to play full-time Ford because John Longmire longm long longm longm had just retired um obviously carry was at C ford and Cory was playing second Rock a lot and he said we want to have two ruckmen we I think that’s the way to go said
We’ve never won back-to-back premiers premierships so we think we can go back toback with two Ruckman so it was capuano and myself so um you played every game that year 23 games no no no that was three finals so I missed I got dropped so I struggled early I played
Rounds one and two and then um got dropped for three and four I think the second game only had one touch and seven hit outs or something like that so but all in all that it was intimidating walking in there you know you got Wayne kry Glenn Archer Anthony
Stevens um Johnny Blakey it’s sort of funny saying these names because um you know a few of them are mates nowadays but it was sort of um you know very intimidating C and I had played AFL so you know you shouldn’t have been intimidated but you still
Were um and I learned a really valuable life lesson um through it is that we were running out of Dem mandibles uh the honestly where we did Waits and the boxing ring um was underneath a grand stand the grand stand had um was all Cyclone Fence off cuz it was about to be
Demolished but it was the people that were there the coaching staff um the footy managers um the doctors the volunteers the um were just absolutely unbelievable so you look at it and the success the success of anything is is the people and they’re the greatest resource and that was the lesson that I
Got from it when I reflected back on it after a year but yeah I I wasn’t I really struggled I went with a knee injury and and rehabbed it over the over the um preseason and then struggled early but sort of then got into a rhythm
And it was interesting by the end of the year you know they love me and I couldn’t work it out like I was averaging less than seven touches a game and they love me and I got cut from a team where I was averaging 11 12 don’t
Forget these are lower like we having 200 kicks game so 200 possessions a game so they’re lower percentages than yeah than these guys nowaday but um all they wanted me to do was was hit it to you know Stevens Simpson Harvey Shannon Grant um you know
I’m missing one or two Ben Robbins when Robo got there you know those sort of guys they just wanted me to tap it to him that’s all they wanted me to do so they just wanted me to play a role um and again that was another life lesson
To sort of pick up from from that part of the journey too play role yeah do you remember playing West Coast the first time in North Melbourne colors yeah yeah that was at the G that was a night match must have been a Friday night match you
Have a bit of a chip on your shoulder with that one uh not overly but I’d never beaten them down at West CO at freem man when I left you know and they had the last round of 99 but I I got dropped I wasn’t playing so I hadn’t
Beaten them personally and then they come out and whip us on round one so yeah but you know I was probably strugg well I was struggling for form um then got I wasn’t even playing all that well actually at the reserves in rounds three and four and Matthew capuana got injured
So had to play and um you know it started to sort of find my own you played your first final after 10 years in the system that year and you won some made a prelim 2000 yeah um do you do you find that now or at the time range or or
How do you reflect on that given you know been at West Coast they wi Flags FR man on up and up and coming side of course you know just started but North Melbourne off the back of a flag you know it’s first final do was it a big
Moment for you yeah yeah it was great yeah it was yeah it was and you know to win a final at the MCG you know was awesome the week later um but you know and and in hindsight northw just com into that into of that era it’s just a Pity that I just
Jumped on it late um again I talked about expectation with West Coast there was a massive expectation at North just um to play finals and that’s just what they did so they finished fourth that year I reckon we played Esson round one uh first week of the finals lost by 100
Points Matthew Lloyd kicks his 100th goal for the year so all the crowd come running on our boxing coach was a war was a water boy so we’re all standing in the middle and they’re all coming past giving it to us like it was late in the
Game they’re 90 points up he wants to punch them all out you know we’re all pulling him back did he no you know but he wants to smash him as you know that’s why they boxes you know they’re aggressive Jackie King he was a ripper um and then just to fight back
The following week from that you know we’re massive Outsiders you know although we finished fourth and and to win that final was great but you know Melbourne and Asen and with and Melbourne beat us easily the following week but Melbourne as were the two best
Teams that year to play off in it so were you always spider like it yeah that was a high school nickname yeah why there’s just arms and legs all arms and legs cuz Aaron San’s nickname SPID uh uh Everett SPID Everett yeah tall fell is this is this mhm I might
Not be missing anything but also like is it just a tall thing is it I think so yeah I think it’s just cuz well mine was I was just all arms and legs and yes the premier son who I went to school with Ray o Conor Ray o Conor junor was um he
Gave it to me when I was year 11 year 12 yes so did you have um many battles with spider Everett a few two spiders going out y yeah quite a few yeah did you how do you feel about having spider ER as your nickname and spyer da you know he has
Spider did you prefer the your spelling I’m a little bit conservative I I tend to think that I stand out anyway so I don’t run the tattoos or the dreadlocks or I don’t try to do anything different mate you know 2001 was a big year for you two things
Happened um the one the first one you took your first ever bounce in the AFL in your 11th year is that right it’s right wow do you remember that no it’s a long way down yeah would you have been given license would Danny Le have been
Your coach at this stage no it was danis still yeah I remember one I got told off for it too danis the following year 2002 which was the game after carrye got cut and we went to port aday and Port aday were always finishing on top in the
Early 2000s and so again we’re a rank Outsiders for that and I took a bounce and I told my mate Benny Robbins I said mate Shepherd like I’m actually like telling him to Shepherd for me so that you know I take a bounce and Dennis he
He roared why wouldn’t you just hand all it to him let him run and bounce and run away from you you know so that was a sort of yeah I don’t know probably I probably think I was a tall man um um a small man stuck in a tall man’s body you
Had four for your career four bounces so you took your first 2001 you took three in your second last year of AFL what happened there off the leash yeah yeah that’s when my confidence was at a supreme High H that’s very good and 2001 Also
May not be a fond memory there was a huge comeback game he he B up by 70 points and you lost yeah against Dennis bit a feedback after that game or uh no you know uh even maybe not into the 60s but when we’re 40 and 50 points up I
Thought this might a good halflight essm were hot they should have won 99 they got beaten in that prelim by Carlton they won 2000 I think they lost one game for the year um they were hot 01 they played in The Grand Final and I they
Were just full of superstars and yeah we buil it up you know North Melbourne had had no money that preseason um we had a camp um if you know any of the Melbourne Subs we had a camp in Elwood which means that we drove half an hour to Elwood um
And we went home for each night then we went back the next day um we got Brian Goron in as the guest speaker that was only because Dennis had been down to the basketball and done a solid and in and guest was guest speaker for them so
Brian will you have to come back in two months time and speak at our preseason camp so um we went to this um sort of like a a hotel in Ligon Street and we had a big team meeting there and um and we we
Yeah we got off to a flyer and it was cool it was really cool you know I things were going so well for us like I kicked a goal and I got it from for the ball like running inside Ford 50 Steve alesio and I think some of our Big
Fellas Cory and some others and the ball just came off and fell in my hands and I kicked a goal like like how many times did I kick a goal from four of theall ball inside 450 you know so we were hot at that stage got to 69 points up and
And they didn’t win by two or three points I think they won by you know like 7 or 23 points or something like that so they’ve actually like given us a real good gun over in the second half so you ask how many times have you kicked a
Goal from just falling your lap inside forward 50 well your last game you did the boys were looking after me then I’ve seen the footage mate that’s that’s pretty special though it is so they they obvious you you’d announced the boys knew it was your last yeah yeah yeah I’d
Announced yeah I was shot um you know my foot was really really stuffed which I’ve had fused since played 10 games a year um and I was 33 and a half was time yeah it’s old for NFL play yeah it was just time and I knew it was time
And um and uh Daniel mlop yeah Daniel mlop uh yeah Junior is’s a good fell and he and seriously he looked after me and he wouldn’t handle inside 450 little hand he handed backwards he came fly I don’t know if any anyone who hasn’t seen it great player Daniel hit hit the pack
With Pace one hand a pick up 10 out of 10 times he’s snapping on his right foot he has literally given a up the chimney hand pass knew you were behind and if you don’t mind it was a good finish by you than snap around the corner boys
Came from everywhere it was unbelievable that’s that’s a special memory to have your last game it is yeah no it is yeah um so so we spoke about all the coaches you played under as a player Mick mold housee nisham uh Damian drum uh who am I
Missing Dennis Pagan uh Danny Ley is that the last year last year yeah I mean that’s a that’s a big crew of of coaches yeah yeah and you know mo most of them have had success so you know I learned a lot uh from all of those different
Coaches um you I was Rock coach for the two years after I tired with with Danny ly so you know even then I learned a lot of her it was awesome to um sort of see she was sort of like she came from Mick mold house and Mick had did change um
His style of play through that period um and that’s why colinwood had so so much success so um so that was good as well I’ve seen Danny’s Doo you’re mentioned in a little bit um Danny sort of first time coming back to her teammates and
Speaking about sort of what had G on do do you want to speak about that at all I know you were you were there Y what was that uh yeah it was a spin out I’m bit dirty on Simo I didn’t know the camera was going to be there um it
Was at simar’s house yeah so uh B he had the biggest house to ah it’s huge he needs a um tank of pet get from the front gate to the to the back door um so it’s you know Drew Petri Daniel PR David hail Peter Bell uh C myself I’m missing someone um
Sorry whoever it was um you know we’re either teammates or we’d been coached by Danny uh Danny had his partner i h of her partner sorry um Donna there and the cameras were there and we just had some pizzas and she explained the journey I
Learned a hell of a lot a hell of a lot it was good the cameras were there for about 2 hours but after that they left and we sort of stayed for about another 3 hours so it was just a real sort of pleasure to hear the story um here her
Ups and downs um her you know you know her reasoning why certain things so uh yeah it was a it was a real pleasure so sounds like you’re really uh and this is without knowing you too well why that you were really connected to your teammates like you’re a good teammate
Yeah um you know it was interesting um steo actually congratulated me he goes I can’t believe how quickly you fell in love with this place and he didn’t realize it was real hard at first at North you know I’d never lived in a another city so you got that you know
You’re trying to find your way you’re trying to play AFL footy but not you know be too in the face of these guys um and I just wanted to play my role for them so um yeah so I think yeah um thanks will and I think with you know speaking modestly I think
Um you know that’s been a strength um and of all the footy clubs have been at yeah so you held the record for the longest time has been the tallest AFL player to ever play yeah do you know the four that now sit in front of you well I
Suppose it’s Cox Sandy land yes Peter Street yes okay and there’s one current player we name Mason Cox another current player plays for Hawthorne oh yeah um starts with n The Sur yeah well firsted Reeves yeah Ned Reeves so all at 211 one cimeter I mean that’s pretty stiff I know Aaron’s
Definitely to than me you know because I was his Rock coach for a couple of years at Freo when we moved back to Perth but um Can can I just expand on that side of it is I I think maybe it held me back a
Tiny bit but maybe um the view of others and that’s why I got overlooked in drafts and that sort of stuff was that uh the dinosaur was dead you you know sort of like Justin Madden and then this would be the last of the Dinosaurs the game’s you know moving on from these
Guys so I’m sort of proud that the Legacy that I got is that they could sort of you know recruiters and you know coaches could sort of see that there was a role for someone as tall and and now they’re looking for those tall guys they’re you know actively going and
Searching for the basketball players that say Mason Cox yeah um so I’m sort of proud of that Legacy that I left that um I was able to have that impact and maybe change a few views um that it’s it’s a game for from people from Boomer
Harvey size all the way through to mine so what was it like um coaching sandelin do you see much of G of all time I was just smoking cigars and just sitting there just had the best view in the house D he’s a superstar I tell you um
Uh he he could do everything that you’d want from a Ruckman and most of all the followup for someone of his size I played against him once and and I was shot my foot was shot but the thing that I struggled with was let’s say I could play against someone like Matthew prus
Who was really really strong but in some ways I could almost reach over with the size of my arm and my height and I could beat him with my height but with Aaron he had the strength of Matthew promise with the same height so I found him very
Difficult to play on the one time that I played on him so but his view um on life and football and you know he was a big strong man he acted strong he was a real leader amongst those Freo guys get Sandy on the Pod yeah I’d love to get another
Big spy on um was there any difficulties being as tall I’m thinking like boots and you know different size to most but of play yeah back in especially in those days in the ’90s it’s a lot easier now getting clothes and and and shoes and that sort of stuff but yeah somehow
Managed yeah it’s good I’m lucky my foot is actually not ridiculously huge so I’m size 13 which is not like I think Aaron size 16 so that comes into play what size are you down uh 10 it’s pretty big fight for yeah not bad I think of um
Andrew vlof um King Size Big and Tall you know see those um those Billboards everywhere in the city that’s been going on for a long time you would have is that where you would have got clothes from yeah but they mly um for the larger gentleman around the stomach whereas I
Have a bit of length issues so I’ve got a couple of uh uh little ones to finish off with uh John Blakey um his sons’s playing in the AFL at the moment the lizard for Sydney yeah did did you have an incident with him at
All uh listen um you know the readers uh um the listeners of your podcast I wasn’t a tough man okay okay but I did manage to knock out one person in myl career just happened to be a teammate Johnny Blakey in his 350th game what happened he’s bloody unlucky
What happened uh I can’t remember who were playing I think it was at the MCG and it was a center bounce and he Johnny actually was I was going to mention him when I reeled off those four five six North Mel names so if there was ever a
Really really tight game I used to get him into for the center bouns and hit it to him and he’d win the center boun so he was an awesome player a key position player though effec half back FL excuse me but he was just one of those players
At one-on-one he could hardly be beaten and and that was the beauty of when I went to North I couldn’t believe I I just you have this perception that’s just car but there there was 12 or 13 BLS that could seriously seriously play and Blakes is one of those and David
King hav mentioned him you know he was one of those um and I’m doing a disservice to another three or four that were just gun players like Craig Shaw and in only had one year with shy but he was a gun uh Darren CER was before my
Time but he was a gun so um was it was a center bounce I had Blakes at 12:00 I was going to hit it to him he wins it and he either do a U-turn or he could hand pass it to one of the boys going past
And did hit it that direction but somehow the other Ruckman has flipped me around and so you know there’s a fair bit of velocity there and I trying to slow myself down I’ve whacked my hand out and I’ve just backhanded him across the face so and he’s out to it
So he’s 350th yeah he he wouldn’t be he he’d be to have a laugh about that n it’s my brother’s my brother’s favorite player was black so he was dirty with me too so uh uh last one and then we’re going to get some listening questions you’re
One of only nine to play both at West Coast and freem manle West Coast you’re on the list Daniel Metropolis Trent Carol David hindes Tony Goden brenon huster Greg Harding Scott Waters Jared scoffield forgot about that and D kiet that’s a pretty decent Club to be a part
Of yeah your boys got Blazers or hats or C we need we need have a club there’s some really good Fellas there I like aot Shandy on a warm afternoon so maybe we should have a little uh West Coast Freo I could have just chucked you into that
Now let’s finish off with this social media not social schoal you heard me right spy this is where we get the people to ask the question I see the little smoke on your face you I know you you like that so this is from the people
Heard enough from Dan and I you heard from Ron Chopper earlier on this is from this segment uh let’s get into a few of these fresh sports collection uh how did you feel about the Dockers colors and different style of jumpers and merch that Frio had can I tell you a story in
Regards to that pleas so they come down to present us um they’ve we’ve got this song and we’ve got these colors and the bloke came down from the advertising agency and he goes um you know the purple U is the color of the sea the red
And the green or the the the lights for the ships and the white and meeting and then and then he goes and purple is a color of sexual frustration and I thought suits me perfectly then the marketing team come we got the best song we got the best
Song we’re having this um it was right before the season started you know like it was sort of one or two weeks out and we’re having this big function and they go this song We reckon will go top 10 Countdown he ho yeah what well the marketing team loved it didn’t they oh
My god did it no did you B used to practice it when you hadn’t like before you’d won well we had to for you know for the first one so twice but did they give it to you on a tape or something you there just the words and driving over at
Night to 10 that’s very good yeah wasn’t it uh dubster uh did you play in the preseason game in South Africa in 1998 where Desmond 22 tossed the coin I did yeah can you tell us about that uh listen that was a funny one you know
To’ be gone to South Africa to play footy is ever been done since I wouldn’t think so but um and they the cricket pitch was as hard as anything um in Cape Town and I come bursting out you know I didn’t have a great season I was 98 so
97 I hadn’t had a great season I’m aggressive as anything trying to win the first center bounce and on the cricket pitch I’ve plug put the foot in on the stops and I’ve just started sliding and the foot the knee went right above my face we’re playing Brisbane so
Whoever the Brisbane rman was at the time so so I locked in really um but yeah old Desmond 2u yeah throwback um Dore Tyrell uh do you remember being tackled by Phil Mata no that doesn’t happen he’s a m of mine now tack what did it feel like getting tackled by the
Smaller guys so you just I feel like you’d be like a you know like the bigger kid that’s all the little kids trying to tackle him yeah I got reported for elb baring Daniel Kerr and I got off at once cuz I just said all I did was just you
Know hip and shoulder him but you know elbowed him head I should have got reported but I got away with it I’m was tall as where my elbows are defend it’s very good one of the things I did get taught was lift the arms up so they
Could only tackle you around here and then you can get your hand ball off so um procs underscore uh is the spider and arachnophobe no I am um uh Jon no what I’m just going to read this out in case there’s some sort of reference
Here I’m reading this and I I don’t know I actually can’t maybe SW I’ll be like let me tell you a story ask spider to take his shoes off and count to 10 does that mean that I’m stupid with say does it don’t joh o bent you know
Joh o bent thanks for your feedback really good um that went well mate um uh I’ll give you this w85 uh what’s the best and worst thing about being so tall um well the best thing is at a concert you got the best view of the
House yes that’s a good point yeah uh the worst thing is is when you work walk into a podcast and you Bang Your Head on the um on the smallest room Dani you’re all right I’m fine will knocks his head every single day dcore Harley underscore
Uh is it true on Game Day bars in North merland would sell Jack Daniels and Coke with ice cream and call it a spider bourbon wow so there was a drink called spider Bourbons but this was at freem manal freem manal Play We heard freem manal supporters would do this whenever
I had a touch then they had to scal their spider bourbon that is amazing wow spider bourbon what a legacy don’t wor about the legacy of actually setting up a pathway for tall people to play football forever which is incredible Legacy the spider bouron maybe just a close second
It’s sweet as anything it’s too sweet last one this is from the Eggman T9 95 how does a spider like his eggs scrambled great good uh M that’s us done and dusted back chat did you have fun yeah it was good thank you good thank you
You’re very very gentle on me thank you actually one last question do you know how many games Kane Monroe played no he did play I but yeah 18 oh there you go I would have rather had spider on my team so what have I back on socials get over
There uh subscribe to us as a podcast watch us on YouTube if you’re doing uh neither of those right now go and do the other one that would be great big thank you to our supporters and partners flet Network swimly RI Snapper Whiskey maret River roasting Co blue bet shelter
Brewing Co Leal cameras M digital all looking after us find everything you need over at backchat podcast.com or backchat studios.com uh VIP codes for patrons if you want to become a patron you’ll hear one more story from spider coming up now thank you very much mate thank you thanks Guys
5 Comments
Surely get Sandi on, ripper bloke
Great interview guys always loved the spider and the way he goes about it ❤️
Good fella Spider, well done lads
Get dale kickett on your podcast
19:30 ish… Tell Spider it was a tip site.
We(Attadale FC) used to play our games at my primary school (Attadale Primary), then in '75 Troy Park was opened. I was nearly 10.
Bloody windy oval but a great location right on the Swan River 👍
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