Troy Luff interview, February 1997

 

 

 

Troy was interviewed in the Swans gym under the Brewongle Stand by Earl O’Neill on 17 February 1997, the day after the Swans beat Brisbane 16.6.102 to 8.8.56 in a practice match at Wagga Wagga.

 

When was your first game for Sydney?
It was June 1990, against Brisbane, out here at the SCG.

And your first game ever?
First game ever – that would have been way back when I was about seven in Traralgon, in Victoria, playing for a junior team called Cumberland Park in the under tens

Who were your heroes when you were a kid?
I was a mad Collingwood supporter and Peter Daicos and Ricky Barham were both Number One heroes – I had Peter Daicos on the back of my duffel coat.

When did you think you could aim for being a senior player in an AFL team?
Well, as a young kid, everyone dreams about playing AFL but I didn’t really aspire to it. It wasn’t really until I first trained with the Swans in about 1987, when I first came here that I thought, well, maybe I might be a chance to play AFL. I was playing in Nelson Bay for 3 or 4 years, which is in northern NSW and I certainly didn’t expect to be playing for any AFL club. When I came back again in 1990 and had a couple of games in the reserves and was promoted to the seniors very suddenly I thought, geez, maybe I can play AFL and it wasn’t until probably the year after that I really thought, well, maybe I can be a senior player here.

Highlights with Sydney?
Certainly playing the Grand Final in ’96 was one of the biggest highlights for anybody. It’s a big disappointment to lose one, that’s for sure. But I think another highlight would be playing in my first win with the Swans which was in 1990, we were fighting for the wooden spoon with the Brisbane Bears and I played a pretty big part in winning the game and it kept us off the bottom.

Did you ever consider leaving Sydney due to your lack of selection in the firsts ?
I don’t think I considered leaving, it was more whether I was going to be kept on or not and on two occasions I was delisted. I was disappointed and shocked at first but I didn’t know what I was going to do – I had a few clubs interested and finally when they redrafted me, I was so pleased cos I wanted to stay in Sydney. If I had to go somewhere else I would’ve but it wouldn’t be my decision. I would’ve stuck here for as long as I could, as long as they wanted me to stay and if it came down to it that I had to get the boot, well then I’d look for somewhere else.

Why do you think the Swans had such a good year last year?
All the midrange players from other clubs, like Craig O’Brien, Kevin Dyson, Stuart Maxfield, all did well; the improvement of guys like Wade Chapman, Michael O’Loughlin, Brad Seymour – all the second, third year players lifted and certainly the coach had a lot to do with it – and again, Plugger kicking a hundred goals and Roosy showing his form from the late 80s when he was a star. The pressure we kept on the other teams – teams that like the free-flowing game like Geelong and Brisbane – put the pressure on them and they can’t work. The team spirit was there and we stopped as many teams as we could.

Do you think the overall player improvement was due to Rodney Eade?
He worked with the younger players probably a little bit better than Barassi did, on a one-to-one basis, but I think the combination of so many other things, which all goes back to Rodney Eade, was the big factor.

Among all the different coaches you’ve played under, who would you rate as the best?
Certainly Rodney Eade, he’s given me a better chance. When I first started here Colin Kinnear gave me a chance early on and I think I proved myself in the first year I was here, but in the second year I wasn’t well used, I think I only played 5 senior games in my second year, and from then on it’s just been a battle up until last year and hopefully I’ve secured a spot in the side. There’s certainly nothing personal between me and Barassi, he just didn’t have an idea of me as a footballer. Unfortuantely, he liked to play other guys instead of me and I sat back in reserves for the last few years.

What do you think of pre-season conditioning?
Most blokes hate doing it but it’s certainly a necessary part of the game. We’re probably the last team to start pre-season, that was mid-November, so other teams were well and truly underway. I think Adelaide Crows actually started the Monday after the Grand Final. It’s hard work, especially in the heat but you gotta do it and most blokes that have a good pre-season have a good season.

Who do you see as the danger teams this season?
I think Brisbane with the recruits they got from Fitzroy are gonna be a good side this year. West Coast and Essendon’ll be top sides again. I think Geelong and Carlton are starting to drop away a bit. North Melbourne’ll also be up there – and the Swans.

Did you play yesterday?
Yep.

How’d it go?
It was very, very hot. It was 39`. The boys played really well, all the young guys played well and the new guys, like Troy Cook, Martin Orchard, Rowan Warfe played extremely well. I think Troy Cook was best on ground – he’s a runner-up Sandover Medallist from WA and he showed a lot of skill yesterday. I think, overall, the whole team did a really good job, and to win by a good margin, we had the legs in the last quarter to run away with it.

What about other young prospects within the club?
All the new guys look like they’ve got something, maybe not this year but certainly in the future – young Brett O’Farrell and Will Sangster have got a bit of height about them, so maybe in a couple of years they should be there.

Pre-game psych up – is there anything in particular you do?
I like to get here early, get strapped early and warm up early so I watch the reserves until their half-time and then I’ll come in and get everything ready (“Bullshit” – unidentified Swan). By the time the coach calls you in I’m ready to go so it gives me plenty of time to prepare and think about the game.

Any individual superstitions?
The only thing I really do is make sure I always bring two pairs of socks with me and that’s about it.

What about post game relaxation or wind-down?
Usually I’m pretty stuffed at the end of the game. I like to sit down, think about the game a bit, ice up any injuries, have a couple of quiet beers after the game, either with the boys or with my wife and hopefully go to sleep, but the game just keeps running through my head, win, lose or draw.

Too much adrenalin?
Always that and thinking of your own performance, just running through the game, going through your mistakes, that sort of thing.

Any particular individuals that you find tough to play against?
I didn’t like playing on Matthew Richardson because he’s such a strong mark, he runs backwards all the time toward the goals and can sometimes leave you out too far in front of him. I think Wayne Carey’s certainly been the hardest I’ve ever played on. He’s very difficult to play because he’s so strong and my body strength doesn’t match anywhere near his. But other than that I accept the challenge with whoever it may be – hope it’s someone who doesn’t run around too much.

How much of your on-field decisions, with kicks and such, are a conscious thought process and how much of it’s just an instinctive thing?
We train so often nowadays that once you get the ball you’re just going to know what to do with it. We know each player, each team member pretty well so when they get the ball you know they’re gonna kick it there or quick handball so a lot of it’s gotta be instinctive. When you’ve got time, you use the time you’ve got. If someone says you’re clear well then you can take a run, but generally it’s just an instant thing, you’ve gotta get it on your boot or on your hand and get rid of it. Keep it moving.

Your favourite position onfield?
I always get asked that and I don’t really know. I like playing everywhere, basically. I don’t really have a favourite position – I like playing on the wing, I like that position.

And your two favourite grounds?
The SCG and the MCG

What about night games – any differences and is it better or worse?
I enjoy night games. I like playing with the yellow ball, I reckon they’re easier to grab and kick further and I think the cooler temperature makes it a little bit easier. Sometimes the lights can affect your eyes, but other than that I enjoy night games. Sometimes gets a bit slippery but I think with the amount of night games we’ve got this year it’s better to enjoy them than not enjoy them.

Is there any special preparation for night games?
We train towards dark anyway. We might have one training session that starts at 6 so it’s dark by the time we finish the training and we always use the yellow balls.

On the day of the game?
Sometimes it can be hard cos you’ve got such a long period of time to fill in – basically a full day before you start playing at 7:30, 8:00 at night, which can sometimes drag on and you get a bit uptight waiting for it.

Sledging – does it happen and what do they say?
It certainly does happen and I think we as a side sometimes promote it a bit. We might find a player that seems a bit weak in the mind and think if you give him a bit of verbal abuse he may crack and not be able to cope with the other guys having a go at him. He might start really getting worried about it and not get a kick. There’s certainly no racial abuse but you might pick someone’s weakness as a player or just say, look, don’t go near the ball, you’re gonna get hit, someone’s gonna hit you and they start thinking about it, start worrying about it, so it can be an advantage. Certainly, the other clubs do the same things to our fellers, just try and give you a bit of a scare, put you off your game.

Is there anything else, aside from sledging as such, that you might say – for instance, when the ball’s down the other end of the field and there’s 2 guys from each team standing in front of the goals?
Not really – a lot of the guys you know personally through playing them so when the ball’s away you have a bit of a chat to them about the weather, about anything, about the season, about a girl on the sideline, that sorta thing. But if you genuinely hate them and don’t want to talk to them it’s just nothing, there’s really nothing said, it’s like there’s no-one standing there most of the time.

How do you see the state of the club at the moment?
I think it’s in the best shape it’s probably ever been, with membership at the moment’s well over 10,000 – at the same stage last year it was like 1500. The management is just sensational, all push for everything. At times the players get a bit annoyed because they’re not just there to play football anymore, they’re there to promote the club and play football. They’ve gotta do a lot of rounds, here and there, everywhere, they’re called on to do shopping centre appearances and that sort of thing. Players like Lockett and Kelly, they just get annoyed with it, they’re in such demand. The coaches, again, are well organised, we’ve got training facilities like this that are second to none so everything is just going well, we can’t go backwards from here.

So in the medium to long term?
I think, with the draft, the way the kids are showing up, the way they’re running the club, we’ve got a good CEO, Kelvin Templeton knows his football, we’ve got guys that know their football all around the club – they’re not just planning for this year, they’re certainly planning for the future. The Swans might be in the finals for the next 5 years, they might win a GF, you just never know. The way things are going it’s looking really good for us.

What about other sports?
Before I came here I used to play comp cricket, basketball, touch football, as a young kid I played comp tennis, comp squash, table tennis, tenpin bowling, I’ve had a bash at everything. At the moment I’m trying to get in a bit of golf. I still enjoy having a hit of cricket at the gym, as all the other boys do, but football takes up so much time you haven’t got time to do another competitive sport. I had one season of cricket here, it just became too much. Nearly every weekend of your whole year, you’re either playing football or cricket.

And alternative relaxation?
I enjoy sitting at home, reading the Sunday paper, doing nothing. I enjoy going to the pub with the boys, having a few beers and maybe go to a nightclub now and again, go to a party, that sort of thing. I went and saw Kiss last weekend which was sensational.

 

To read more by Earl O’Neill click HERE.

 

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