Van Rooyen talks expectation | Melbourne Mindset

Jacob Van Rooyen sat down to discuss how he deals with the expectation of AFL Football the latest edition of the Melbourne Mindset, presented by IG.

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commentary it’s important to how we understand our game but there’s commentary rarely heard the one inside player’s heads in this series we take you inside the Demon’s Minds the highs the lows the psychological side of the game this is the Melbourne mindset brought to you by IG Jacob thanks for your time welcome along thank you for having me good to see you so let’s start with your AFL Journey and you sort of came into AFL footy with an AFL ready physique were you always a a big strong lad sort of growing up through your your teenage and Junior 40 days I’ve always been fairly big I’ve never really been that skinny scrawny kid so I think it’s always an advantage I’ve had yeah coming up being yeah coming through the ranks done me well at the start of my career 2021 the D’s have just come off a drought breaking Premiership you’re taken with Melbourne’s uh pick in the first round what was it like being drafted to the footy Club it was exciting like I didn’t know where I was going to go so leading into that that day that week was very nerve-wracking I was right at the end of the first round so I didn’t know if I was going to be on the first night or the second night but in the end super happy to be picked up by the de and yeah couldn’t ask for anything more as I say they just come off a Premiership so did you feel like what was that like did you feel maybe an ounce of pressure a little bit of pressure but also knew I was going into a strong team and it I probably wasn’t just going to walk straight into the side I know I had to yeah crack in and work hard if I was going to get my opportunity so preseason the following year I believe that um the host broadcast has asked you to attend media day I mean I guess when you’re invited along to a media day you start to think my opportunity might not be too far away what was that like yeah it was surreal really i’ never done anything like that before um yeah going into the media day getting suited up with the max gns Christian patras Clayton Olivers of our team and I’m just thinking I’m nowhere near them but then again it also given me a a sense of oh like trust and felt like I was gone where I needed to go if they see me and want that footage of me to use yeah throughout the year at some point so no was it was good are those senior guys calming influences I mean they were back then I I guess right now those leaders do they sort of help calm you as a person yeah they are they’re always good people to lean on if you have problems so like yeah someone like Max he’s an awesome leader but he’s also someone who you feel comfortable going to if you have a problem if you’re not sure about something and I think that’s what you want in your captain that’s something you yeah really look for what’s it like lining up against those more senior bodies all of a sudden it is it’s a bit of a shock like back in in my junior career I did play a little bit of um senior football in the waffle so I had played against a few bigger bodies at times but it’s it’s a massive step up going from from Waffle vfl into that um AFL level but I think it’s something I’m handling quite well and yeah still learning with every game I play so as you applying your trade with Casey you you know you’re kicking goals you’re playing great footy and then the calls start to come especially from supporters Who start to get itchy feet themselves Ian how do you sort of how does that sort of correlate with you what are you thinking about I think your mind always just goes back to what you know and what you’ve been told and having trust in the footy club that they’re doing the right thing by me and yeah they they have a set path that they want me to follow and a process that they’re putting me through so I think it’s just trusting trusting the program and really yeah sticking to that and just doing the best you can kind of where you are and where your situ surely you got itchy feet though I mean it’s it’s sort of instinct right yeah a little bit little bit at times but there was parts of my game where I wasn’t ready to be an AFL player like I wasn’t physically fit enough or um just wasn’t ready at that time the club knew that and we’d gone over that as well so I think it was just yeah being patient and doing what I could at the time it’s hard to teach patients especially for a young kid I mean speaking to your m ality in that inst instance how do you stay patient well yeah like I said before just trusting the club trusting that they know what they’re doing and what’s best for me because I was only 19 years old where they’ve been doing this for 100 years so it’s yeah trusting the coaches the high performance program that they’re all going to do the best thing for me fast forward to round three of that season and you finally get your chance you get told you’re making your debut for the oldest football club not just in Australia but anywhere in the world what was running through your mind yeah it was really exciting I think I was more excited for those people around me as well my mom dad brothers like they’re they’re my biggest support network and just to see how happy they were the smile on their faces as well when I told them and then when also when they got here before the game spending time with them how excited they were I think yeah it all all clicked for me just how much it really means to people so you’re thinking about you also thinking about getting out there what it’s going to be like getting your hands on the footy for the first time yeah it was it was really nerve-wracking like didn’t get a whole lot of sleep the night before but a lot of that is nerves excitement everything you dream since you’ve being a kid’s just about to come true so yeah what like that stuff does go through your mind but then again it’s coming back to that just trusting the process doing know that you’ve done the work to get there and you deserve it how do you stay calm um generally is there anything you do anything you like to rely on to try and keep you sort of leveled yeah any a game just working on your breathing um and then outside of footy just getting away from the game like when you can having other hobbies and focuses I think what about when things don’t go your way or aren’t going the team’s way in that in that case it’s yeah more just resetting so finding a reset a reset tool and then coming back to what we know what we’ve been taught so moving on from those those mistakes or things not going our way and coming back to what we know we’re good at and yeah driving that Jacob Van Roy has had plenty of pressure piled onto his 21-year-old shoulders and so far has answered all the questions asked of him staying committed to your goals and not letting outside expectations impact your process is a mindset that is as critical for Traders as it is for our DS whether it’s in the markets or on the field mastering your mindset is vital to help you perform at your best thanks to Melbourne’s official trading partner IG this is a Melbourne mindset