WEBVTT - Conversations with Cornesy - Erin Phillips

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<v Speaker 1>Can I everyone welcome to conversations now. Look, I played

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<v Speaker 1>against my next guest and I was given a bath.

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<v Speaker 1>She ran rings around me, and yes, I said, she

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<v Speaker 1>mind you. I was fifty five and she was fifteen.

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<v Speaker 2>It's only a few years ago, wasn't it.

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<v Speaker 1>I was a few bother, isn't it?

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<v Speaker 2>It was good fun.

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<v Speaker 1>Aaron Phillips is my guest. Of course you recognized the voice,

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<v Speaker 1>don't you. She's written a new book or a book,

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<v Speaker 1>not a new one, a book called Inside and Out.

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<v Speaker 1>Aaron Phillips spong to the.

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<v Speaker 2>Program, Thank you so much for having me. Graham, do you.

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<v Speaker 1>Remember playing against in that celebrity game?

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<v Speaker 2>But that laid over absolutely. I was allowed to play

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<v Speaker 2>footy as a young kid after thirteen, so when I

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<v Speaker 2>got the call up to the slowdowns, that was a

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<v Speaker 2>highlight of my year to be able to play in

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<v Speaker 2>Port Adelaide. Colors try to tackle you, I think I

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<v Speaker 2>think you did. I was trying to really.

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<v Speaker 1>Are athlete mentality.

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<v Speaker 2>It was great. But what a fantastic event that was

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<v Speaker 2>The money we raised awesome?

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<v Speaker 1>I did. I had to. I had to get to

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<v Speaker 1>the last line in your book to understand the title

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<v Speaker 1>Inside and Out? Can you explain it for us.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So when I wanted to write a book, or

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<v Speaker 2>actually when I first got an approach to write a book,

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<v Speaker 2>I think my general reply was is my life that interesting?

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, it's you know, I didn't ever think I

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<v Speaker 2>would ever write a book. And then I sat down

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<v Speaker 2>and considered it, and I thought, well, if I'm going

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<v Speaker 2>to write a book, you have to be really honest.

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<v Speaker 2>You've got to be open, and you've got to tell

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<v Speaker 2>all the story from the inside and out. And so

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<v Speaker 2>that's a big part of whether where the story, where

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<v Speaker 2>the title comes from, and obviously out being you know,

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<v Speaker 2>being out and proud being who I am, being brave

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<v Speaker 2>to be who I am. So that's kind of where

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<v Speaker 2>the title came from.

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<v Speaker 1>As I said, it took me to the last line

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<v Speaker 1>to sort that out. When you say you didn't think

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<v Speaker 1>you're worthy of writing a book, I just read some

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<v Speaker 1>of the career highlights. Three times AFL w Premiership player,

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<v Speaker 1>two times AFL Premiership Co captain, twice Adelaide Club Champion,

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<v Speaker 1>Adelaide Co Captain, Adelaide leading goalkicker, and then you went

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<v Speaker 1>to Port Adelaide. I could never forgive you, I know,

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<v Speaker 1>three times all Australian twice AFL League Best in Fairest,

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<v Speaker 1>twice AFL Players Most Valuable Player, two times afl W

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<v Speaker 1>Grand Final Best on Ground, AFL Coaches Association afl W Champion,

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<v Speaker 1>Player of the Year, Goal of the Year win the

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<v Speaker 1>system was it?

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<v Speaker 2>Definitely? Yes, it was a big breeze from eighty out.

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<v Speaker 1>That was just a career. But in your basketball career,

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<v Speaker 1>which happened before footy, twice WNBA Championship player, that's in America,

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<v Speaker 1>the Big League, three times WNBO All Star, five twice

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<v Speaker 1>WNBO Leader and assists, then all these other things. You

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<v Speaker 1>went to euro leagues, You've got accolades there. You played

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<v Speaker 1>as if you won championships with American teams. Then Commonwealth

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<v Speaker 1>Games gold medalist, World Champion, gold medal in Brazil, silver

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<v Speaker 1>medal in the Beijing Olympics and twenty fourteen Turkey Fever

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<v Speaker 1>World Championship, bronze medal, Australian vice captain, co captain, and

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<v Speaker 1>you were at the Rio Dijonnaire Olympic Games. Now that

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<v Speaker 1>all rattled off, so people need to go and look

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<v Speaker 1>at it a bit more studiously than that. Can you

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<v Speaker 1>say you're not worthy of a book?

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<v Speaker 2>I suppose when you're in your life, you're in your

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<v Speaker 2>own shoes, you don't one of the worst, not the worst,

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<v Speaker 2>I'd say, one of the biggest downfalls maybe that I had.

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<v Speaker 2>But it was also a good asset. As a part

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<v Speaker 2>of my personality is I never really along my journey

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<v Speaker 2>stopped and reflected too much and what I've just done.

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<v Speaker 2>I was very ambitious to go on to the next thing.

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<v Speaker 2>I rarely gave myself too much praise. I was always

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<v Speaker 2>ready to do, Okay, what's next. So when I sat

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<v Speaker 2>down and started writing this book, I actually had I

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<v Speaker 2>actually come to realize, Wow, I've actually done quite a

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<v Speaker 2>bit of stuff, and even apart from the sporting element

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<v Speaker 2>of my life, and that's been a huge part of

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<v Speaker 2>who I am and what I've done. I think the

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<v Speaker 2>most important thing about that book is there's so many

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<v Speaker 2>other layers to my life and I wanted people to

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<v Speaker 2>know that, Yes, my life and my career and two

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<v Speaker 2>sports has been incredible, had an amazing upbringing with two

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<v Speaker 2>wonderful parents and two wonderful sisters. But there's been times

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<v Speaker 2>in my life it's been bloody hard and difficult, and

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<v Speaker 2>I want people to read a story of mindset and

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<v Speaker 2>feel that there's no one that's immune to hard times

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<v Speaker 2>and adversity and challenges, and so one of the most

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<v Speaker 2>proudest part of the book is to open up and

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<v Speaker 2>share those experiences.

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<v Speaker 1>We'll come to that. I mean, you do then the

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<v Speaker 1>hard times of the injury, aren't they when you cop injuries?

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<v Speaker 1>And maybe the odd time, maybe that you didn't have

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<v Speaker 1>a good year, And then obviously your relationships, which sound

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<v Speaker 1>complicated but we're simplified. I love the fact your dad

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<v Speaker 1>wrote the forward because everybody loves your dad. Did you

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<v Speaker 1>find that everybody loves Greeks?

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<v Speaker 2>Absolutely? And what's not to love about dad? Big Kutchie

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<v Speaker 2>as they call him. He's obviously a huge part of

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<v Speaker 2>my story, a huge part of why I grew up

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<v Speaker 2>to be an athlete in the end, because I wanted

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<v Speaker 2>to be like him, wanted to play footy. Wasn't able

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<v Speaker 2>to do that after the age of thirteen, took on

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<v Speaker 2>a new career. But Dad and my mum for that matter,

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<v Speaker 2>have always been there for the journey. So to get

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<v Speaker 2>Dad to put the forward in its really special. I

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<v Speaker 2>think it wouldn't have made sense without him.

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<v Speaker 1>She fought over toys with her two sisters, But as

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<v Speaker 1>she got older, the battles were all about she was

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<v Speaker 1>a good winner and a terrible loser. There's a true

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<v Speaker 1>you moment. I used to say. The sisters looked little win, Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>just to keep some peace, little win.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, yep, that is true, just to save the night

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<v Speaker 2>from being a complete disaster. Because I mean, I was

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<v Speaker 2>so competitive. I just love to compete. I love to win.

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<v Speaker 2>And He's true, I was a terrible, terrible loser. I

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<v Speaker 2>just I would stay up there as long as I

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<v Speaker 2>could to get the game back on my terms. But

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<v Speaker 2>I think looking back, it was even though I was

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<v Speaker 2>probably a hard kid and a difficult kid sometimes because

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<v Speaker 2>I was so competitive and so, I don't know, pickheaded

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<v Speaker 2>or strong willed, whatever you want to call it, that

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<v Speaker 2>was also one of my superpowers going forward in my life.

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<v Speaker 2>So I'm glad though even though we're there at times

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<v Speaker 2>my sisters did let me win. I really really appreciated

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<v Speaker 2>the times they didn't let me win, because that just

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<v Speaker 2>made me even more hungry and even more competitive.

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<v Speaker 1>Any champions that are good losers do you think about them?

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<v Speaker 1>Is it a trait of a champion that they have

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<v Speaker 1>to be a poor loser?

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know. Yeah, probably, I can't think of too

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<v Speaker 2>many champions of sport that have liked losing. I think

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<v Speaker 2>I come to understand what you can learn through losing,

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<v Speaker 2>rather than it just being a complete disaster.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, you do learn a lot more from your disappointments

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<v Speaker 1>in your triumphs. I think I love the story about

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<v Speaker 1>Dad came home and your only night and you've pinched

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<v Speaker 1>his motorbike.

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<v Speaker 2>In fairness, it was a smaller motorbike, probably more suited

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<v Speaker 2>for me than Dad. But yeah, I was a very

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<v Speaker 2>active kid. I loved being outside. I was climbing trees,

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<v Speaker 2>stealing motorbikes, riding them up and down the street. I

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<v Speaker 2>was a kid who was scraping their knees every night

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<v Speaker 2>doing something. And I had a big imagination and yep,

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<v Speaker 2>one of the motorbikes. I had. The neighbor across the road, Bob,

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<v Speaker 2>who was actually one of the trainers at Port Adelaide,

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<v Speaker 2>lived across the road at the Magpies, and he made

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<v Speaker 2>me a jump so I could jump up this ramp

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<v Speaker 2>fly over things. I don't know how many times I

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<v Speaker 2>come off this thing and managed to avoid breaking a bone,

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<v Speaker 2>which was in itself a huge feat but yeah, I

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<v Speaker 2>just loved, loved being an outside kid.

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<v Speaker 1>I still don't know how she got it started, he said.

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<v Speaker 1>It's what Greg says, how her little body could even

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<v Speaker 1>kick the motor over io.

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<v Speaker 2>I found a way. I figured out what a spark

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<v Speaker 2>plug was. I knew if I changed that, I'd be

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<v Speaker 2>a good chance of getting it started. So yeah, I

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<v Speaker 2>figured it out.

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<v Speaker 1>Was footy. I mean basketball. You're very good tennis player,

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<v Speaker 1>as dad writes, But was footy number one when you

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<v Speaker 1>were a little kid? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 2>I loved footy? Well?

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<v Speaker 1>Were your heroes?

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<v Speaker 2>All the magpiles he had, Scott Hodges, Tim Jennifer five,

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<v Speaker 2>do a great here, Adrian Setri.

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<v Speaker 1>Do not mention that name.

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<v Speaker 2>I thought that much. Struck an Her.

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<v Speaker 1>Nineteen ninety Grand Final. Scott Hodges goes down, Adrian Setri

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<v Speaker 1>comes off the bench, never kicked a goal in his life,

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<v Speaker 1>kicked three goals on Scott Suli three.

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<v Speaker 2>That mullet number ninety is flying around.

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<v Speaker 1>How good was he?

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<v Speaker 2>Struck her?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 2>I played a lot of sports growing up. I did

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<v Speaker 2>little athletics, loved competing. I put my hand up for

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<v Speaker 2>all the school sports because it could get me out

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<v Speaker 2>of class at different times, i'd swimming, you name it.

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<v Speaker 2>So I just I just love sport.

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<v Speaker 1>Aaron Phillips is my guest, folks. Her book is called

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<v Speaker 1>Inside and Out. We'll talk a bit more about that,

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<v Speaker 1>but more about her career and her life when we

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<v Speaker 1>get back back shortly. Welcome back, everybody. Aaron Phillips is

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<v Speaker 1>in the studio here to talk about her book Inside

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<v Speaker 1>and Out. I guess we talked about the early days,

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<v Speaker 1>how competitive she was and how she loved footy. You're

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<v Speaker 1>able to play footy until you were thirteen. Is it's true?

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<v Speaker 1>You won the best and first in your last year smoke? Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I lot.

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<v Speaker 2>My name's up on the board at Smash West Lakes,

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<v Speaker 2>which is now the team or the club I still

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<v Speaker 2>coach my daughter's under ten's team at. So it's special.

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<v Speaker 2>It's special to be able to give back to a

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<v Speaker 2>club that when I was growing up, when I was young,

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<v Speaker 2>I was the only girl that they made me feel

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<v Speaker 2>so welcome, so part of the Smash family. And it

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<v Speaker 2>was the West Lakes Lakers back then when I played.

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<v Speaker 2>But I just love being back there. There's so many

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<v Speaker 2>great memories of running around there. But yeah, unfortunate at

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<v Speaker 2>the age of thirteen. That was the last time that

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<v Speaker 2>I could do that.

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<v Speaker 1>Did you get much fleck from opposition players and a

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<v Speaker 1>family who used to be standing on the sidelines and

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<v Speaker 1>watch because you're a girl playing in a boys.

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<v Speaker 2>Team, Yeah I did. I There were not every game,

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<v Speaker 2>but there were some games certainly that I mostly came

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<v Speaker 2>from opposition parents that would have something to say about

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<v Speaker 2>a girl playing against their sons and you know, don't

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<v Speaker 2>get beaten by a girl or get her or you know,

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<v Speaker 2>you could just tell there was a different tone of

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<v Speaker 2>when I was out there, and ninety nine percent of

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<v Speaker 2>the time it really didn't affect me. I write in

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<v Speaker 2>my book that one time I had an opposition runner

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<v Speaker 2>have a bit of a go at me, and it

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<v Speaker 2>was the first time I let something on the football field,

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<v Speaker 2>a place where I was just having so much fun.

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<v Speaker 2>I was just who I was. First time that someone

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<v Speaker 2>really got to me, and I teared up. My coach

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<v Speaker 2>and players rallied around me. But then I got home

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<v Speaker 2>from that game, I threw my bag down. I just

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<v Speaker 2>hated the fact that I let someone get to me

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<v Speaker 2>on the field because it was a Usually I don't

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<v Speaker 2>let it get to me, but yeah, it was. It

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<v Speaker 2>was ninety nine percent of the time I was. I

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<v Speaker 2>was fine. That one percent that got me. I was

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<v Speaker 2>dirty and I never ever let anything get to me

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<v Speaker 2>like that again. And actually, funny enough, it was only

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<v Speaker 2>last year that I saw this runner in Foodland. Really yeah,

0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.520
<v Speaker 2>first time I've ever made eye contact with him, and

0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:13.200
<v Speaker 2>he was so uncomfortable, and I knew at that moment

0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:17.040
<v Speaker 2>he knew that. I still remember that moment on the field,

0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:19.360
<v Speaker 2>and I knew that he knew what he said.

0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:21.520
<v Speaker 1>And how did you recognize him?

0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:22.960
<v Speaker 2>I would never forget him.

0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:23.880
<v Speaker 1>Do you know his name?

0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:28.480
<v Speaker 2>I think so, but I know his face. I will

0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:31.880
<v Speaker 2>never forget. But I just wanted to say to him,

0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:33.240
<v Speaker 2>did it make you feel good?

0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:33.560
<v Speaker 1>Like?

0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:37.360
<v Speaker 2>Is that something that you wish you could that moment

0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:39.959
<v Speaker 2>take back in time and go do I feel good

0:12:40.000 --> 0:12:41.440
<v Speaker 2>about saying that? Should I have said it?

0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:41.560
<v Speaker 1>Do?

0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.679
<v Speaker 2>I wish I did, But I just knew from how

0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.320
<v Speaker 2>uncomfortable he was that Hopefully the answer is I wish

0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:49.000
<v Speaker 2>I never said it.

0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:53.080
<v Speaker 1>I love the story. You delve into your family's background

0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:55.920
<v Speaker 1>a little bit. Your mum's parents come from England.

0:12:56.000 --> 0:13:01.080
<v Speaker 2>Yep, mom came over with her. She got was six

0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:03.840
<v Speaker 2>siblings in her family at the time they came over,

0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:07.160
<v Speaker 2>I believe it was four of them. Mum was seven

0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:11.440
<v Speaker 2>years old and lived out on I think it was

0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:14.080
<v Speaker 2>Grand Junction Road. There were some tin sheds that they

0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:17.280
<v Speaker 2>put out there for people that that came over lived

0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:22.840
<v Speaker 2>there hostels. Yes, And then very quickly through my book,

0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:27.480
<v Speaker 2>through my Annie Val who was a big Port Adelaide person,

0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:33.320
<v Speaker 2>that's became port Adelaide became a really quickly we became

0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:35.760
<v Speaker 2>just a part of the port Adelaide family, my mum's

0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:36.520
<v Speaker 2>side of the family.

0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:40.720
<v Speaker 1>Why hell, because they're English? They how do they well?

0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.360
<v Speaker 1>I guess it was the Finns me my migrant hospital hostel.

0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:45.400
<v Speaker 1>Was it Grand Junction.

0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:47.680
<v Speaker 2>Right would have been? Yeah, yep, but there.

0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:48.760
<v Speaker 1>Was grace food.

0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:53.239
<v Speaker 2>You and you just love port Adelaide. Your grandfather, my grandfather,

0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:55.680
<v Speaker 2>he loved his soccer, so he was not interested in

0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:59.280
<v Speaker 2>a sport like football. But my grandma, Grandma Joan, she

0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:06.040
<v Speaker 2>loved footy is obviously my dad Pauline dad's mum loved

0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:09.840
<v Speaker 2>footy and but my mum's mum, which is just a

0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:14.120
<v Speaker 2>great story. They would sleep outside of the old footy

0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:18.080
<v Speaker 2>park Grand Final Eve. You know when you go to McDonald's,

0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.960
<v Speaker 2>the morning of when before the gates open, have their breakfast,

0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:23.360
<v Speaker 2>get back in line, and then it was a race

0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:26.680
<v Speaker 2>straight down to the front of the where the Port

0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:30.720
<v Speaker 2>Adelaide Magpies would run out save those first two rows

0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:33.600
<v Speaker 2>of seats. Then get out there knitting, get out there

0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:36.680
<v Speaker 2>Bickie's and tea and make a day of it. And

0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:40.960
<v Speaker 2>it was Yeah, it was wonderful. And then myself, obviously

0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:43.840
<v Speaker 2>my two older sisters Mum, we would come a bit

0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:47.240
<v Speaker 2>later with getting ready for the Great Grand Finals and

0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:50.880
<v Speaker 2>a lot of them you were, you were in not

0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:52.960
<v Speaker 2>too many smiling at the end of it.

0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:59.120
<v Speaker 1>But uh, the finals, yeah, I prefer then you're.

0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:00.920
<v Speaker 2>Not going to hang your hat on pre Limb finals

0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:07.200
<v Speaker 2>Cola Adelaide. But they were just it were great. You

0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:10.560
<v Speaker 2>remember those just footy park days. It was just it

0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:13.600
<v Speaker 2>was there was no occupational health and safety. There was

0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.960
<v Speaker 2>people jam packed in like sardines. But it was just

0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:19.800
<v Speaker 2>so so good. It was just the best times.

0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.400
<v Speaker 1>And Greg's mom and dad came from Minnapa on the

0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:28.320
<v Speaker 1>on their peninsula. Yep. But your grandfather still still ye d.

0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:32.560
<v Speaker 2>Yep, still still in Minnapa and.

0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:33.480
<v Speaker 1>They moved to Adelaide at one station.

0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:37.160
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so when when Dad was started, he came across

0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.520
<v Speaker 2>I think you said about a sixteen year old, started

0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:43.160
<v Speaker 2>playing with Port Adelaide and he went from basically woodener

0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:46.720
<v Speaker 2>To to Port Lincoln, went to school there and then

0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.560
<v Speaker 2>went to Adelaide and then my nana Pauline went to

0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.760
<v Speaker 2>Adelaide with him, and then Pop moved over and had

0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.560
<v Speaker 2>some really difficult times at the farm, had a lot

0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:58.320
<v Speaker 2>of drought ears and it was getting really hard to

0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:03.040
<v Speaker 2>keep it, so they sold the farm, moved to Adelaide.

0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:08.280
<v Speaker 2>Will eventually moved to Adelaide in Semaphore and followed dad's

0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:12.360
<v Speaker 2>career and obviously, yeah, it was a pretty good one.

0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:15.320
<v Speaker 2>But Pop Pop always missed the farm. That's why he's

0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.600
<v Speaker 2>there back there now. When Nan passed away, it was

0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:20.880
<v Speaker 2>a big part of him that wanted to go back

0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.440
<v Speaker 2>because that's that's what he is. He's a farm guy.

0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:25.640
<v Speaker 2>He's a country boy.

0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:29.000
<v Speaker 1>I always imagine your dad to be a quiet, shy

0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:33.680
<v Speaker 1>country boy. And how on earth did he clack up

0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:36.520
<v Speaker 1>the courage to ask your mom out on a date?

0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:39.400
<v Speaker 1>Can you tell us that story? Yeah?

0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:43.640
<v Speaker 2>So there's My mum was working as a she was

0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:48.640
<v Speaker 2>working for a lawyer's firm and dad came in this

0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:50.920
<v Speaker 2>it depends who you ask, but this is this is

0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:53.280
<v Speaker 2>the story I'm going with that I've gone in with

0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:56.160
<v Speaker 2>my book. My dad had to come in and I'm

0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:58.080
<v Speaker 2>not sure if he was in trouble for something or

0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:01.400
<v Speaker 2>if he was just signing some legal documents for something

0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:06.400
<v Speaker 2>for the pub. Anyway, he got he met mum who

0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:12.880
<v Speaker 2>was working there, and somehow eventually my mum said, yeah,

0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:14.440
<v Speaker 2>I'll go out with you. But this was a few

0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:17.959
<v Speaker 2>attempts from dat. It wasn't straight away, but my mum's

0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:21.120
<v Speaker 2>sisters got wind of who was asking her out because

0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.440
<v Speaker 2>they're made Port mum couldn't care about Port Adelaide, and

0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:27.240
<v Speaker 2>then I think there was probably maybe a bit of

0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:29.520
<v Speaker 2>peer pressure from her sisters to go You're going to

0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:31.840
<v Speaker 2>go out with Greg Phillips, Like, go out with Greg Phillips.

0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:35.840
<v Speaker 2>So she did and the rest is history.

0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:40.080
<v Speaker 1>It's intriguing. At the start of your book, you posit yourself,

0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:44.120
<v Speaker 1>had you been born and bought your name was Lachlan Phillips,

0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.760
<v Speaker 1>how much different you would have been perceived on that

0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:51.080
<v Speaker 1>sporting journey. What were you trying to achieve by that?

0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:55.159
<v Speaker 2>So the chapter is if she was he? And it

0:17:55.240 --> 0:18:00.520
<v Speaker 2>just puts my career, my life in perspective of, Okay, well,

0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.960
<v Speaker 2>if I was a boy, where would my life have

0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:07.359
<v Speaker 2>Where would my life be now? Where it would have

0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:11.639
<v Speaker 2>ended up? I would have continued of playing footy, I

0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:14.320
<v Speaker 2>would have wouldn't have had to have gone and played basketball.

0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:16.720
<v Speaker 2>Even if I was a boy playing basketball, if I

0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:21.520
<v Speaker 2>had won two NBA titles, how much money that would

0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:25.479
<v Speaker 2>have made me? And I'm not by any means saying

0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.199
<v Speaker 2>how I just I wish I was a boy. This

0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:31.240
<v Speaker 2>is so unfair because every part of my life and

0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:34.520
<v Speaker 2>my journey I'm grateful for and it's I am who

0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:36.840
<v Speaker 2>I am because of the experiences and the journey that

0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.440
<v Speaker 2>I've been on. But when you do put it into

0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:42.720
<v Speaker 2>perspective of if I was a boy, I would have

0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.960
<v Speaker 2>been certainly paid a lot different, My pathway would have

0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:49.639
<v Speaker 2>been pretty pretty clear, would have kept playing football beyond

0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:52.399
<v Speaker 2>the age of thirteen, and so just more.

0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:57.600
<v Speaker 1>Two brownne metals, MVP YEAP, three Premierships.

0:18:57.040 --> 0:19:01.200
<v Speaker 2>Yep, and all the things that come with being a

0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:05.440
<v Speaker 2>male and being getting those accolades compared to being female

0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:09.120
<v Speaker 2>and getting those accolades. Whilst again I don't ever want

0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:12.440
<v Speaker 2>to undersell it, or appreciate what I've what I've got

0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.520
<v Speaker 2>and what I've done. It is a huge difference.

0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:18.439
<v Speaker 1>There might have been different though your footy would have

0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:21.080
<v Speaker 1>been the dominant sport would have maybe they wouldn't have

0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:21.879
<v Speaker 1>been basketball.

0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:25.560
<v Speaker 2>Oh I know, if if I had football to continue

0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:28.760
<v Speaker 2>on as a pathway, I would have absolutely have followed.

0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:32.639
<v Speaker 1>Football knee injury. May not have the knee injuries. You

0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.159
<v Speaker 1>can't say it was an interesting way of positing it,

0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:38.800
<v Speaker 1>but I thought, oh, yeah, well true, but it's a

0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:40.200
<v Speaker 1>sliding door. You you just.

0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:42.640
<v Speaker 2>Don't know it is. Yep, it is definitely.

0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:45.560
<v Speaker 1>Aaron Phillips is my guest. Much more to come. Welcome

0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:47.919
<v Speaker 1>back everybody. If you just tuned in, we're chatting with

0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:50.280
<v Speaker 1>Aaron Phillips and it's just as much fun when the

0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:54.240
<v Speaker 1>microphones turned off, it's turned on because we can reminisce,

0:19:55.119 --> 0:19:57.440
<v Speaker 1>mainly about a dad I guess tried to get investiately

0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:01.920
<v Speaker 1>to play for the Crozy trained with us, laid off magpies,

0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:03.639
<v Speaker 1>off any more money to stay in the sand for.

0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:06.000
<v Speaker 2>He told me a story that you made him do

0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:08.640
<v Speaker 2>this crazy bike ride to the snake pits and had

0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:11.239
<v Speaker 2>to do so many laps and you'd come off your

0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:14.560
<v Speaker 2>bike and then Dad rode by you. I saw you

0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:16.920
<v Speaker 2>on the side of the road. Did a you turn

0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:19.040
<v Speaker 2>to check on the other instead rode over your bike,

0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:21.920
<v Speaker 2>over your tires. You told you to get up.

0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:26.240
<v Speaker 1>He told you that, which I don't. I think you

0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:28.480
<v Speaker 1>might have exaggerated that.

0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:30.720
<v Speaker 2>That's unlike my dad to an exaggerated story.

0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:34.760
<v Speaker 1>Your basketball career is amazing. How did it start, how

0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:36.760
<v Speaker 1>did it develop? And when did you know you were

0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:38.480
<v Speaker 1>a chance to play for Australia.

0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:43.200
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I so I was introduced to Rachel Spawn at

0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:45.359
<v Speaker 2>the age of thirteen when I was finishing up my

0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:49.840
<v Speaker 2>footy career and she became just another idol. So I

0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:51.760
<v Speaker 2>knew no longer I could be a football player and

0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:55.359
<v Speaker 2>had to find a new new sport. And so I

0:20:55.400 --> 0:20:58.000
<v Speaker 2>was so appreciative of Rachel's just five minutes of her

0:20:58.040 --> 0:20:59.920
<v Speaker 2>time just talking to me as a young kid, and

0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:02.280
<v Speaker 2>I thought, wouldn't it be amazing if I ever got

0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:05.600
<v Speaker 2>the opportunity to play with her? And fast forward down

0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:07.720
<v Speaker 2>the track. A couple of years later, I was in

0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:12.080
<v Speaker 2>the Lightning squad training with Rachel. Playing with Rachel just

0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:17.320
<v Speaker 2>one of those incredible moments. And then at the age

0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:20.800
<v Speaker 2>of nineteen, got my first call up to play for

0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:24.960
<v Speaker 2>the Opals. The same year I was sorry. At the

0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:28.240
<v Speaker 2>same year, I was also drafted to the Connecticut son

0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:30.919
<v Speaker 2>in the DUBNBA. So it was a big year for me.

0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:33.400
<v Speaker 2>But it wasn't smooth. I mean my first few games

0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:36.080
<v Speaker 2>as a basketball as a junior, I was fouling out

0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:38.560
<v Speaker 2>because I was this little football kid trying to play

0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:42.000
<v Speaker 2>basketball and wasn't used to the contact and all the

0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:44.919
<v Speaker 2>lack of contact, I should say, and kind of had

0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:47.560
<v Speaker 2>to finesse my skill out. Some great people around me

0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:51.960
<v Speaker 2>at West adelaide to harness my skills and just to

0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:54.640
<v Speaker 2>bring it back a little bit but still be athletic

0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:59.240
<v Speaker 2>and still be aggressive. So yeah, that's my basketball journey.

0:22:00.000 --> 0:22:04.720
<v Speaker 2>Probably I didn't really take too much notice of what

0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:07.800
<v Speaker 2>else could there be outside of the lightning, probably until

0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:11.600
<v Speaker 2>about eighteen when had some WNBA scouts come over and

0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:15.719
<v Speaker 2>have a look at some games, and then when I

0:22:15.800 --> 0:22:18.639
<v Speaker 2>was drafted. That was when it was a real big

0:22:18.680 --> 0:22:23.200
<v Speaker 2>moment of Wow, I actually can be a professional basketball player.

0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:25.560
<v Speaker 1>Did you know where Connecticut was? No?

0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.119
<v Speaker 2>I actually it was like three o'clock in the morning

0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:31.800
<v Speaker 2>or some ridiculous hour. I was on dial up internet

0:22:31.840 --> 0:22:33.879
<v Speaker 2>listening to the draft. I thought I might have been

0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:36.359
<v Speaker 2>a chance to get drafted, but not. You never know.

0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:40.960
<v Speaker 2>And then my coach from Connecticut called me because I

0:22:41.000 --> 0:22:45.040
<v Speaker 2>was on like eleven minute delay with my computer, told

0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:48.560
<v Speaker 2>me I was drafted at pick twenty one. I was

0:22:48.600 --> 0:22:52.240
<v Speaker 2>so excited. And then in the middle of the night

0:22:52.320 --> 0:22:54.520
<v Speaker 2>called I was at my sister's house, called up mom

0:22:54.520 --> 0:22:57.040
<v Speaker 2>and Dad said, I've got drafted. I got drafted to Connecticut.

0:22:57.080 --> 0:22:57.560
<v Speaker 1>And then I.

0:22:57.600 --> 0:22:59.720
<v Speaker 2>Realized where is Connecticut? And so I went to what

0:22:59.760 --> 0:23:03.320
<v Speaker 2>they I told my young teammates. I went to what

0:23:03.480 --> 0:23:07.320
<v Speaker 2>is a paper form of Google Maps, It's called an atlas,

0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:11.919
<v Speaker 2>and I had to look up where exactly where Connecticut was.

0:23:12.000 --> 0:23:13.800
<v Speaker 2>I knew it was somewhere in the east, but I

0:23:13.800 --> 0:23:15.800
<v Speaker 2>didn't actually know where I was going.

0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:18.080
<v Speaker 1>So when did you get there? And what was it like?

0:23:18.840 --> 0:23:22.760
<v Speaker 2>I was picked up in a hummer with a big

0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:26.560
<v Speaker 2>Connecticut Sun logo on it. It was eleven pm at night.

0:23:26.600 --> 0:23:29.959
<v Speaker 2>I'd landed in Connecticut and it was such a massive

0:23:30.040 --> 0:23:35.520
<v Speaker 2>journey to get there. I was, you know, jet lagged, exhausted,

0:23:35.840 --> 0:23:38.200
<v Speaker 2>and they drove me through a Dunkin Donuts to get

0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:40.679
<v Speaker 2>a coffee and a donut, which at eleven point thirty

0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:42.320
<v Speaker 2>pm at night was probably not the one thing that

0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:44.359
<v Speaker 2>I felt like at the time, but I was really

0:23:44.600 --> 0:23:48.280
<v Speaker 2>appreciative to be there Connecticut. I just it was driving

0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:50.080
<v Speaker 2>in the night. It was a lot of trees. I

0:23:50.160 --> 0:23:52.159
<v Speaker 2>just thought, gosh, this place has a lot of trees.

0:23:52.760 --> 0:23:54.639
<v Speaker 2>Knew that we were playing out of a casino, so

0:23:54.680 --> 0:23:58.159
<v Speaker 2>we were owned by the Mahigan Sun tribe. We played

0:23:58.200 --> 0:24:01.639
<v Speaker 2>out of the Mahigan Sun casino. So I'm driving with

0:24:02.720 --> 0:24:06.120
<v Speaker 2>Bill who picked me up, who's one of the team managers,

0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:08.600
<v Speaker 2>picked me up, drove to the casino. That's where I

0:24:08.600 --> 0:24:12.159
<v Speaker 2>had to stay in training camp until my accommodation was ready.

0:24:12.680 --> 0:24:16.000
<v Speaker 2>Once you make the roster, and just saw out of

0:24:16.040 --> 0:24:19.280
<v Speaker 2>the blue, out of all these trees, this humongous building

0:24:19.600 --> 0:24:22.119
<v Speaker 2>out of nowhere as a casino, and that's where I

0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:23.800
<v Speaker 2>was about to live for the next two weeks.

0:24:24.080 --> 0:24:28.560
<v Speaker 1>Well, you you still had an Australia basketball career, didn't you.

0:24:28.680 --> 0:24:32.199
<v Speaker 1>But eventually you commit, you moved to you played with

0:24:32.480 --> 0:24:33.640
<v Speaker 1>so many different teams.

0:24:34.040 --> 0:24:38.399
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So how the basketball circuit works is you're in

0:24:38.440 --> 0:24:42.080
<v Speaker 2>the WNBA from May through till September and then you

0:24:42.160 --> 0:24:45.040
<v Speaker 2>go off and play in a European team from September

0:24:45.119 --> 0:24:47.920
<v Speaker 2>October right back through till May, so you don't get

0:24:47.960 --> 0:24:50.119
<v Speaker 2>a lot of time to come back to Australia. You

0:24:50.119 --> 0:24:52.920
<v Speaker 2>don't get much time to be in Australia if you do,

0:24:53.040 --> 0:24:55.040
<v Speaker 2>so you're on this circuit and you have to stay

0:24:55.040 --> 0:24:58.760
<v Speaker 2>in it because if you kind of pull yourself out

0:24:58.760 --> 0:25:02.359
<v Speaker 2>of it, you can your money can can go backwards,

0:25:02.400 --> 0:25:04.880
<v Speaker 2>your opportunities can be taken away. You kind of want

0:25:04.920 --> 0:25:07.479
<v Speaker 2>to just stay involved and in the rhythm of it.

0:25:07.600 --> 0:25:10.200
<v Speaker 2>So there was a lot of years away from home.

0:25:10.320 --> 0:25:12.879
<v Speaker 1>You played at Connecticut, you played in Israel, you played

0:25:12.880 --> 0:25:15.760
<v Speaker 1>in Poland, you played for two teams in Poland, you

0:25:15.800 --> 0:25:20.600
<v Speaker 1>played in Slovakia, and then five teams in America. But

0:25:20.840 --> 0:25:23.000
<v Speaker 1>I guess the big the big moment come when you

0:25:23.040 --> 0:25:25.399
<v Speaker 1>were with Indiana or Phoenix. Is.

0:25:25.640 --> 0:25:28.359
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Indiana and Phoenix are the two teams in the

0:25:28.520 --> 0:25:32.560
<v Speaker 2>WNBA when we won the championships, two completely different teams.

0:25:33.200 --> 0:25:35.600
<v Speaker 2>And if you know the name Caitlin Clark, you know

0:25:35.960 --> 0:25:38.600
<v Speaker 2>she plays now for the Indiana Fever, which was my team,

0:25:39.240 --> 0:25:42.439
<v Speaker 2>and in twenty twelve we were the underdogs. It was

0:25:42.600 --> 0:25:45.240
<v Speaker 2>it was just one of those stories where we had

0:25:45.280 --> 0:25:48.680
<v Speaker 2>no business to win. We just we kept facing elimination

0:25:48.840 --> 0:25:50.760
<v Speaker 2>in every round. We got through. We got through, and

0:25:50.800 --> 0:25:54.480
<v Speaker 2>then come up against in the finals Minnesota. Minnesota had

0:25:54.680 --> 0:25:59.680
<v Speaker 2>five Team USA starters on their team and we beat

0:25:59.720 --> 0:26:04.880
<v Speaker 2>them three to one. It was just an unbelievable story

0:26:04.960 --> 0:26:09.560
<v Speaker 2>of just incredible you know, team chemistry, connection, resilience, playing

0:26:09.600 --> 0:26:13.280
<v Speaker 2>against arguably the best team that ever played.

0:26:13.760 --> 0:26:15.800
<v Speaker 1>So do do you get the accolades like it? If

0:26:15.880 --> 0:26:18.960
<v Speaker 1>it was like the men's like a Michael Jordan, you

0:26:19.000 --> 0:26:22.399
<v Speaker 1>know they win their championships. Did do you get the

0:26:22.400 --> 0:26:24.040
<v Speaker 1>accolades that you're worthy of?

0:26:24.800 --> 0:26:27.679
<v Speaker 2>I mean, you get your championship ring, you get the

0:26:27.880 --> 0:26:32.040
<v Speaker 2>you get the jewelry, you get the parade, you know,

0:26:32.320 --> 0:26:35.280
<v Speaker 2>all the all the things in the city. You definitely,

0:26:35.240 --> 0:26:39.359
<v Speaker 2>And definitely in Indiana, which was a big basketball town,

0:26:39.560 --> 0:26:42.840
<v Speaker 2>they just they were people are just mad basketball, even

0:26:42.960 --> 0:26:45.840
<v Speaker 2>crazy now with Caitlyn Clark there. But you see how

0:26:45.920 --> 0:26:49.879
<v Speaker 2>much it means to people, and you don't realize until

0:26:50.000 --> 0:26:53.560
<v Speaker 2>you win or you lose big games that people just

0:26:53.600 --> 0:26:56.120
<v Speaker 2>support you and just love being a part of your

0:26:56.119 --> 0:26:58.560
<v Speaker 2>team's journey. And same with Phoenix. I mean we played

0:26:59.160 --> 0:27:03.240
<v Speaker 2>I played with Diana Trozzi. He's probably the greatest basketballer ever.

0:27:03.440 --> 0:27:06.680
<v Speaker 2>Five time Olympian might have been six now, but she's

0:27:06.920 --> 0:27:10.320
<v Speaker 2>just you know, to win a championship with her, Britney Griner,

0:27:10.560 --> 0:27:12.959
<v Speaker 2>who played Penny Taylor and the team at this at

0:27:13.000 --> 0:27:15.880
<v Speaker 2>the time, my mind's still blown because I look back

0:27:15.880 --> 0:27:18.439
<v Speaker 2>and go, these are the best players ever to play

0:27:19.200 --> 0:27:22.400
<v Speaker 2>and won a championship with them, and think we're connected

0:27:22.400 --> 0:27:24.480
<v Speaker 2>for life, Like it's unbelievable.

0:27:24.680 --> 0:27:27.880
<v Speaker 1>Do you establish those connections? Do they have reunions?

0:27:28.040 --> 0:27:30.639
<v Speaker 2>Yes, I'm glad you asked. Last year, I got flown

0:27:30.760 --> 0:27:33.119
<v Speaker 2>They put me in a business class seat all the

0:27:33.119 --> 0:27:36.880
<v Speaker 2>way to Phoenix, like talk about being treated like a star.

0:27:37.080 --> 0:27:40.080
<v Speaker 2>That was amazing because usually I'm in like eighty seven

0:27:40.200 --> 0:27:42.320
<v Speaker 2>j with four kids on the way back to America,

0:27:42.359 --> 0:27:45.600
<v Speaker 2>And this time I got a business class ticket and

0:27:45.920 --> 0:27:50.480
<v Speaker 2>flew over there for four nights and we were just celebrated.

0:27:50.520 --> 0:27:54.200
<v Speaker 2>It was just it was like we'd never left each other.

0:27:54.600 --> 0:27:56.600
<v Speaker 1>It sounded like it didn't end on a happy night.

0:27:56.600 --> 0:27:56.760
<v Speaker 2>Though.

0:27:56.800 --> 0:28:00.480
<v Speaker 1>You said your time at Los Angeles Sparks wasn't the

0:28:00.480 --> 0:28:01.160
<v Speaker 1>happiest time.

0:28:01.920 --> 0:28:06.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, it was. It was a really tough tough year.

0:28:06.600 --> 0:28:10.280
<v Speaker 2>We were we were predicted to do great things. That team.

0:28:10.280 --> 0:28:12.800
<v Speaker 2>We had a whole bunch of injuries to star players

0:28:12.880 --> 0:28:17.280
<v Speaker 2>we were. It was a really hard city to play

0:28:17.320 --> 0:28:21.000
<v Speaker 2>in because you know, you live We lived in Marina

0:28:21.080 --> 0:28:24.840
<v Speaker 2>del Rey, playing out of Staples Center, and you don't

0:28:24.840 --> 0:28:27.600
<v Speaker 2>know what traffic's like in La. So you're better off

0:28:27.640 --> 0:28:31.160
<v Speaker 2>getting to a game four hours before the game rather

0:28:31.200 --> 0:28:34.720
<v Speaker 2>than being right there on time just for tip off,

0:28:34.760 --> 0:28:37.320
<v Speaker 2>because you never know. And it was, Yeah, it was.

0:28:37.400 --> 0:28:41.600
<v Speaker 2>It was a tough year. I was, honestly, and I

0:28:41.640 --> 0:28:44.280
<v Speaker 2>was really at a point where I would love to

0:28:44.360 --> 0:28:47.680
<v Speaker 2>be around family members. Dallas had just got a team

0:28:48.680 --> 0:28:52.240
<v Speaker 2>moved from Tulsa to Dallas, which is where my wife,

0:28:52.240 --> 0:28:55.960
<v Speaker 2>Tracy's family's from. And when the potential to get a

0:28:56.000 --> 0:28:59.560
<v Speaker 2>trade was there, I took it because it was It

0:28:59.720 --> 0:29:01.120
<v Speaker 2>was a really, really tough.

0:29:00.920 --> 0:29:04.960
<v Speaker 1>Time and Dallas was your last team. Yeah, you mentioned Tracy.

0:29:05.120 --> 0:29:07.920
<v Speaker 1>We'll talk about Tracy. Will introduce her to them to

0:29:07.960 --> 0:29:10.320
<v Speaker 1>the narrative when we come back after the rate. Just

0:29:10.840 --> 0:29:14.520
<v Speaker 1>before you go, you're right that you've got tattooed Elton

0:29:14.600 --> 0:29:20.920
<v Speaker 1>John's Tiny Dance lyrics on your body somewhere. Ye, Why so.

0:29:20.880 --> 0:29:24.280
<v Speaker 2>It's the music notes hold me closer to Tiny Dancer

0:29:24.360 --> 0:29:27.040
<v Speaker 2>that's the song that Mum and I. That's our song,

0:29:27.480 --> 0:29:29.680
<v Speaker 2>and music is a big part of my life and

0:29:29.920 --> 0:29:34.719
<v Speaker 2>love music. My mom's a big music head Bowie Fan Elton,

0:29:34.840 --> 0:29:39.760
<v Speaker 2>all those Eagles, Elvis, so we're connected through music, Mum

0:29:39.840 --> 0:29:42.280
<v Speaker 2>and I, and so I wanted to the whole song.

0:29:42.320 --> 0:29:43.480
<v Speaker 1>I'll just do a couple of lines, just.

0:29:43.880 --> 0:29:46.440
<v Speaker 2>Hold me closer to tiny dancer in a musical piece,

0:29:46.640 --> 0:29:49.520
<v Speaker 2>so all the notes, no, not actually the words, and

0:29:49.720 --> 0:29:51.880
<v Speaker 2>if anyone's music right there and wants to have a look,

0:29:51.920 --> 0:29:54.120
<v Speaker 2>and if it's wrong, all bad lucks. Too late now.

0:29:54.240 --> 0:29:58.440
<v Speaker 2>But it was just something that I wanted to to

0:29:58.520 --> 0:30:00.560
<v Speaker 2>have because I love the song.

0:30:01.680 --> 0:30:01.760
<v Speaker 1>It.

0:30:02.280 --> 0:30:04.400
<v Speaker 2>You know, songs just make you feel good, make you

0:30:04.440 --> 0:30:06.800
<v Speaker 2>feel like you're at home, make you feel connected. That's

0:30:06.840 --> 0:30:08.320
<v Speaker 2>one that mum and I share.

0:30:08.320 --> 0:30:11.320
<v Speaker 1>Well, particularly when it's your song and your mum's song

0:30:12.080 --> 0:30:13.480
<v Speaker 1>that'll stay with you forever.

0:30:13.800 --> 0:30:15.680
<v Speaker 2>She was meant to get it but never did, so

0:30:15.880 --> 0:30:18.440
<v Speaker 2>that's the other part of the bargain. She's still got

0:30:18.480 --> 0:30:21.480
<v Speaker 2>to live up to. I don't think I'm any charts.

0:30:21.960 --> 0:30:25.080
<v Speaker 1>Aaron Phillips is my guest folks Actionately, Aaron Phillips is

0:30:25.120 --> 0:30:27.160
<v Speaker 1>in the studio with me it's a great chat, to

0:30:27.160 --> 0:30:31.520
<v Speaker 1>be quite honest, and it's really interesting to connect when

0:30:31.560 --> 0:30:34.400
<v Speaker 1>the microphones are off as well. There was a line

0:30:34.400 --> 0:30:37.960
<v Speaker 1>that I highlighted in your book, I believe in aliens

0:30:37.960 --> 0:30:41.400
<v Speaker 1>and ghosts. I do you believe in aliens and ghosts?

0:30:41.480 --> 0:30:42.080
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? Why not?

0:30:42.840 --> 0:30:44.320
<v Speaker 1>UFOs and aliens? Yep?

0:30:44.680 --> 0:30:46.280
<v Speaker 2>I have to. I have to believe.

0:30:47.040 --> 0:30:47.240
<v Speaker 1>You know.

0:30:47.280 --> 0:30:48.640
<v Speaker 2>One of the things I love to do at night

0:30:48.680 --> 0:30:50.800
<v Speaker 2>when I'm taking the dogs out for a week is

0:30:50.960 --> 0:30:54.800
<v Speaker 2>I like looking up at the stars, and I just

0:30:54.880 --> 0:30:58.440
<v Speaker 2>got to believe that there's things, something else out there.

0:30:59.000 --> 0:31:01.440
<v Speaker 2>I usually see the lights go back and forth, but

0:31:01.560 --> 0:31:06.600
<v Speaker 2>I just it would be too narrow minded to think

0:31:06.600 --> 0:31:09.920
<v Speaker 2>that they were the only ones out there. And then spiritually,

0:31:10.720 --> 0:31:15.000
<v Speaker 2>I just feel there's a connection. There's many times that

0:31:15.080 --> 0:31:18.920
<v Speaker 2>I've I've felt when I've fed my kids and I've

0:31:18.920 --> 0:31:21.480
<v Speaker 2>been you know, Miller and I feeding them with a bottle.

0:31:21.520 --> 0:31:23.720
<v Speaker 2>I can I just feel like a presence there of

0:31:23.760 --> 0:31:28.160
<v Speaker 2>one of my grandparents, usually my Grandma Joan or Grandma Pauline,

0:31:28.280 --> 0:31:31.240
<v Speaker 2>just somewhere and they just pop into my head. And

0:31:31.720 --> 0:31:34.600
<v Speaker 2>it's not like I don't want to sound crazy, but

0:31:34.640 --> 0:31:37.080
<v Speaker 2>it's it's just like I haven't been thinking about them.

0:31:37.080 --> 0:31:39.719
<v Speaker 2>Three o'clock in the morning, I'm feeding a kid who

0:31:39.720 --> 0:31:41.680
<v Speaker 2>won't go to sleep, and then all of a sudden,

0:31:41.720 --> 0:31:44.800
<v Speaker 2>I feel this calming presence, it's going to be okay,

0:31:45.080 --> 0:31:48.440
<v Speaker 2>and then they come into my mind. So I've had many.

0:31:49.040 --> 0:31:51.920
<v Speaker 2>There was a story when my grandma Joan, who she

0:31:52.040 --> 0:31:55.840
<v Speaker 2>passed away from ovarian cancer, and she was in hospital.

0:31:56.200 --> 0:31:58.200
<v Speaker 2>Mom and day got a call to say, come up

0:31:58.440 --> 0:32:02.080
<v Speaker 2>to the hospital as quickly as you can. She's not

0:32:02.160 --> 0:32:06.120
<v Speaker 2>doing well. They're driving up Port Road and my dad,

0:32:06.160 --> 0:32:10.400
<v Speaker 2>who doesn't believe in aliens pole opposite doesn't believe in ghosts.

0:32:10.520 --> 0:32:13.360
<v Speaker 2>I said to my mum, what's that smell? You know?

0:32:13.520 --> 0:32:16.160
<v Speaker 2>It smells like someone has literally dropped a whole bottle

0:32:16.200 --> 0:32:19.840
<v Speaker 2>of eucalyptus in the car and could not find it.

0:32:20.520 --> 0:32:23.000
<v Speaker 2>She used to put on my Nana Joan would put

0:32:23.000 --> 0:32:24.720
<v Speaker 2>it on a hanky because she did not like the

0:32:24.760 --> 0:32:29.280
<v Speaker 2>smell of hospitals. And then it went away like there is.

0:32:29.600 --> 0:32:32.640
<v Speaker 2>And my dad, who like I said, does not believe

0:32:32.640 --> 0:32:35.880
<v Speaker 2>in anything, cannot explain this to me. Whereas my mum

0:32:36.840 --> 0:32:40.440
<v Speaker 2>has smelled eucalyptus on various occasions. But to have my

0:32:40.600 --> 0:32:42.840
<v Speaker 2>dad in the car at this point when my mum

0:32:44.000 --> 0:32:46.040
<v Speaker 2>was with him, and it was pretty much at the

0:32:46.080 --> 0:32:49.480
<v Speaker 2>moment my nana did pass away. It's just one of

0:32:49.480 --> 0:32:52.080
<v Speaker 2>those things where they just has to be.

0:32:53.120 --> 0:32:57.960
<v Speaker 1>You've mentioned Tracy, your wife in the earliest segments there,

0:32:57.960 --> 0:33:01.520
<v Speaker 1>but you're so open about it in how you meet

0:33:01.600 --> 0:33:04.640
<v Speaker 1>and the journey that you had that you sounded like

0:33:04.640 --> 0:33:06.720
<v Speaker 1>I was love at first sight for you, not so

0:33:06.800 --> 0:33:07.280
<v Speaker 1>much for her.

0:33:08.280 --> 0:33:11.720
<v Speaker 2>Well, I hope it wasn't too far after that she

0:33:12.560 --> 0:33:15.360
<v Speaker 2>liked me. I know it was. It was a very much.

0:33:16.040 --> 0:33:18.880
<v Speaker 2>I was Tracy's first ever female love.

0:33:19.560 --> 0:33:20.960
<v Speaker 1>And who was she then?

0:33:21.520 --> 0:33:25.040
<v Speaker 2>So this was back in she would have been around

0:33:25.040 --> 0:33:26.160
<v Speaker 2>twenty six, twenty.

0:33:25.920 --> 0:33:27.520
<v Speaker 1>Seven, So she don't ever have boyfriend?

0:33:27.600 --> 0:33:31.200
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yep, and probably only She had been with a

0:33:31.240 --> 0:33:35.320
<v Speaker 2>guy before me for about seven years that didn't end well,

0:33:35.680 --> 0:33:39.120
<v Speaker 2>and then met me not too much longer after that,

0:33:39.880 --> 0:33:43.320
<v Speaker 2>and we really just reconnected so well. She was my

0:33:43.400 --> 0:33:46.720
<v Speaker 2>best friend. We spent a lot of time together and

0:33:47.760 --> 0:33:50.920
<v Speaker 2>ended up falling in love with each other. And for her,

0:33:51.480 --> 0:33:54.520
<v Speaker 2>if you had a bastard prior to that, whether she

0:33:54.560 --> 0:33:58.080
<v Speaker 2>would have ever married a woman, she would have absolutely not.

0:33:58.240 --> 0:34:03.080
<v Speaker 2>You know, that's not interest so but we just were

0:34:03.120 --> 0:34:05.800
<v Speaker 2>so connected to each other. You know, we've been married

0:34:05.840 --> 0:34:10.040
<v Speaker 2>eleven years now, we have four kids together, and I

0:34:10.080 --> 0:34:13.120
<v Speaker 2>honestly really do believe that I married my soulmate. That's

0:34:13.680 --> 0:34:16.600
<v Speaker 2>what I write in the book. And some people you

0:34:16.680 --> 0:34:19.399
<v Speaker 2>meet and some people you just if you're lucky enough.

0:34:19.440 --> 0:34:21.719
<v Speaker 2>I always tell my kids, if you ever get the

0:34:21.760 --> 0:34:23.160
<v Speaker 2>opportunity marry your best friend.

0:34:23.719 --> 0:34:26.680
<v Speaker 1>It didn't happen overnight. I mean, you're on again, off again,

0:34:27.120 --> 0:34:29.799
<v Speaker 1>so there must have been a special bond there to

0:34:29.840 --> 0:34:31.560
<v Speaker 1>help you maintain that connection.

0:34:31.719 --> 0:34:34.319
<v Speaker 2>We were really we were really battling with a lot

0:34:34.320 --> 0:34:38.520
<v Speaker 2>of we I was living playing overseas. She's from America,

0:34:38.560 --> 0:34:41.719
<v Speaker 2>She's from Dallas, would spend half the year apart. I'd

0:34:41.760 --> 0:34:45.400
<v Speaker 2>travel to European clubs. So we were both professional athletes.

0:34:46.160 --> 0:34:49.000
<v Speaker 2>She's a basketballer as well, so it was just really

0:34:49.080 --> 0:34:51.719
<v Speaker 2>hard to navigate. And back then you don't have the

0:34:51.800 --> 0:34:54.840
<v Speaker 2>FaceTime or the you know, phone calls you can just

0:34:54.880 --> 0:34:56.960
<v Speaker 2>pick up cost you one hundred dollars a minute. And

0:34:57.040 --> 0:34:59.880
<v Speaker 2>there were also certain challenges of how would we make this.

0:35:00.400 --> 0:35:05.400
<v Speaker 2>She's American, I'm Australian. It's not legal to get married

0:35:05.440 --> 0:35:07.640
<v Speaker 2>either in the United States at the time. It wasn't

0:35:07.680 --> 0:35:11.000
<v Speaker 2>illegal to get married here in Australia. Do we want kids? Is?

0:35:11.120 --> 0:35:13.120
<v Speaker 2>How are we ever going to have kids? So it

0:35:13.200 --> 0:35:14.960
<v Speaker 2>was we had a lot of challenges.

0:35:16.040 --> 0:35:18.280
<v Speaker 1>I don't want it to sound like a prurian interest,

0:35:18.360 --> 0:35:20.440
<v Speaker 1>but the things that we're sort of passing through my

0:35:20.480 --> 0:35:23.480
<v Speaker 1>mind as I'm reading this, And how did she introduce

0:35:23.520 --> 0:35:26.319
<v Speaker 1>you to her parents? How did she explain to her

0:35:26.360 --> 0:35:29.879
<v Speaker 1>parents when you know, they'd only know her to have boyfriends?

0:35:30.040 --> 0:35:32.719
<v Speaker 1>And was that awkward or complicated?

0:35:33.040 --> 0:35:36.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it was. We had a lot of challenges with

0:35:36.719 --> 0:35:40.200
<v Speaker 2>Tracy's Tracy's mum thought it was a phase for Tracy

0:35:40.200 --> 0:35:44.520
<v Speaker 2>because she only known Tracy to have, you know, male boyfriends,

0:35:44.640 --> 0:35:49.879
<v Speaker 2>and so I think in the end, well, people were

0:35:50.000 --> 0:35:54.200
<v Speaker 2>just concerned and it was more so, how is this

0:35:54.239 --> 0:35:57.040
<v Speaker 2>actually going to work? Because there's a lot of people

0:35:57.040 --> 0:35:59.799
<v Speaker 2>when they look at same sex couples, they think, well,

0:35:59.840 --> 0:36:02.040
<v Speaker 2>they won't be able to get married, they won't be

0:36:02.040 --> 0:36:04.880
<v Speaker 2>able to have kids together. What's what? You know? Almost

0:36:04.920 --> 0:36:08.600
<v Speaker 2>what's the point? But we could also still have those things.

0:36:09.000 --> 0:36:11.239
<v Speaker 2>We weren't so scary. I suppose, I don't know, like

0:36:11.320 --> 0:36:12.040
<v Speaker 2>it's well.

0:36:12.280 --> 0:36:17.040
<v Speaker 1>It seems it seems natural these days. Yeah, although some

0:36:17.080 --> 0:36:21.520
<v Speaker 1>people resisted, but it was pioneering stuff. You talk about

0:36:21.560 --> 0:36:24.160
<v Speaker 1>you couldn't get married in America. Yeah, but finally Hawaii

0:36:24.360 --> 0:36:27.719
<v Speaker 1>relates their laws. Went to Hawaii. You describe it on

0:36:27.760 --> 0:36:30.240
<v Speaker 1>the beach and I could see it. You talked about

0:36:31.320 --> 0:36:35.399
<v Speaker 1>a sea turtle emerging emerging from the It was from

0:36:35.480 --> 0:36:38.000
<v Speaker 1>the water as you're as you're saying, you've owed.

0:36:38.080 --> 0:36:42.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it was like something out of a story book.

0:36:42.239 --> 0:36:44.920
<v Speaker 2>I mean, we were we were lucky. Obama was in power.

0:36:45.000 --> 0:36:48.600
<v Speaker 2>He changed the laws to legalize same sex marriage in

0:36:48.640 --> 0:36:51.120
<v Speaker 2>the States. We went to Hawaii. We didn't want a

0:36:51.120 --> 0:36:53.359
<v Speaker 2>big wedding. We didn't want family to have to fork

0:36:53.400 --> 0:36:55.080
<v Speaker 2>out a lot of money to get there, so we

0:36:55.120 --> 0:36:58.120
<v Speaker 2>eloped on our own. The only people that went with

0:36:58.360 --> 0:37:01.560
<v Speaker 2>was Tracy's brother and sister in law, just to be witnesses.

0:37:02.239 --> 0:37:05.520
<v Speaker 2>And it was just a magical night. We were on sunset,

0:37:06.080 --> 0:37:08.759
<v Speaker 2>a little bit of sprinkling rain on a warm night

0:37:09.239 --> 0:37:12.200
<v Speaker 2>passed through, and then a sea turtle. Can you believe it?

0:37:12.239 --> 0:37:15.719
<v Speaker 2>Out of you know, everything, which is just crazy. It

0:37:15.760 --> 0:37:18.400
<v Speaker 2>was spiritual. Maybe you know, maybe.

0:37:18.360 --> 0:37:19.920
<v Speaker 1>They make you go in the water, jump in the

0:37:19.920 --> 0:37:20.400
<v Speaker 1>water with you.

0:37:20.640 --> 0:37:23.680
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we dress well, we wreck the dress, but don't

0:37:23.719 --> 0:37:28.359
<v Speaker 2>worry my dress. My dress was ninety dollars online and

0:37:28.520 --> 0:37:30.560
<v Speaker 2>I was that annoyed because I had to get altered

0:37:30.600 --> 0:37:32.239
<v Speaker 2>because it was too big when I did get it,

0:37:32.280 --> 0:37:34.080
<v Speaker 2>and it was one hundred and thirty dollars to older it,

0:37:34.080 --> 0:37:37.160
<v Speaker 2>which was more than the bloody dress. So it was

0:37:37.200 --> 0:37:37.799
<v Speaker 2>a fun night.

0:37:37.960 --> 0:37:38.239
<v Speaker 1>It was.

0:37:39.200 --> 0:37:41.600
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, look back, we had we had a great night.

0:37:41.880 --> 0:37:44.640
<v Speaker 2>I think the one of the only regrets Tracy has

0:37:44.719 --> 0:37:47.960
<v Speaker 2>now and didn't know at the time because her dad,

0:37:48.520 --> 0:37:53.640
<v Speaker 2>he's an ex Navy seal. He's a really quiet guy.

0:37:53.840 --> 0:37:57.520
<v Speaker 2>We get along very very well. That's impressive, Yeah, very impressive.

0:37:57.840 --> 0:38:04.960
<v Speaker 2>He never speaks, you know, emotionally ever about anything. And

0:38:05.040 --> 0:38:09.160
<v Speaker 2>he told Tracy's mum that one of his biggest regrets,

0:38:09.239 --> 0:38:11.319
<v Speaker 2>or not even regrets, but what he wishes that he

0:38:11.600 --> 0:38:14.120
<v Speaker 2>could walk Tracy down the aisle. And we didn't know

0:38:14.320 --> 0:38:14.920
<v Speaker 2>at the time.

0:38:15.040 --> 0:38:17.479
<v Speaker 1>You've got four kids. Now put me in my place

0:38:17.520 --> 0:38:20.759
<v Speaker 1>if I'm going too far here. But is it an

0:38:20.760 --> 0:38:26.000
<v Speaker 1>exercise in genetic selection? I mean, you obviously choose the diner.

0:38:26.440 --> 0:38:29.120
<v Speaker 1>Did you choose the donor with a view to your

0:38:29.239 --> 0:38:31.000
<v Speaker 1>kids being elite at sport?

0:38:32.160 --> 0:38:34.400
<v Speaker 2>That's a good question because and that's not a funny

0:38:34.440 --> 0:38:36.560
<v Speaker 2>question because we actually get asked a lot about how

0:38:36.600 --> 0:38:40.800
<v Speaker 2>do you choose the donor? It is such a huge

0:38:40.880 --> 0:38:44.400
<v Speaker 2>process to do. There is so much information on donors.

0:38:44.719 --> 0:38:47.960
<v Speaker 2>You go through all their application, you can hear them speak,

0:38:48.719 --> 0:38:52.000
<v Speaker 2>you can get their medical background history. So for Tracy

0:38:52.000 --> 0:38:54.839
<v Speaker 2>and I am out of and you're talking about it's

0:38:54.880 --> 0:38:57.720
<v Speaker 2>like car shopping, and I say that respectfully in terms

0:38:57.719 --> 0:39:00.000
<v Speaker 2>of you pick your if you want a certain high

0:39:00.200 --> 0:39:05.279
<v Speaker 2>eye color, all these different things that you can filter towards.

0:39:05.880 --> 0:39:08.759
<v Speaker 2>And for Tracy and I, what was important obviously was

0:39:09.040 --> 0:39:12.360
<v Speaker 2>health background, all those things before we get to the

0:39:12.920 --> 0:39:15.480
<v Speaker 2>you know, how tall are they? You know? Because also

0:39:15.680 --> 0:39:18.240
<v Speaker 2>the we found, which was kind of weird, the taller

0:39:18.280 --> 0:39:20.960
<v Speaker 2>the donor was the more expensive they are, and then

0:39:21.200 --> 0:39:23.360
<v Speaker 2>more likely they're on a waiting list because they're in

0:39:23.440 --> 0:39:24.040
<v Speaker 2>high demand.

0:39:24.320 --> 0:39:27.400
<v Speaker 1>So do you meet them, get the chance to make that.

0:39:27.480 --> 0:39:30.439
<v Speaker 2>Is the only thing you don't get to do if

0:39:30.480 --> 0:39:33.360
<v Speaker 2>they have ticked in when once they sign up for

0:39:33.400 --> 0:39:37.000
<v Speaker 2>the program, can you be contacted when the kids are eighteen?

0:39:37.760 --> 0:39:41.359
<v Speaker 2>Either donor can tick yes, or you can as if

0:39:41.400 --> 0:39:44.080
<v Speaker 2>you sign up for it, say no, we don't want

0:39:44.080 --> 0:39:49.440
<v Speaker 2>any connection to them, So our donor didn't have wanted

0:39:49.480 --> 0:39:53.000
<v Speaker 2>to be contacted once the kids were eighteen, and a

0:39:53.040 --> 0:39:54.720
<v Speaker 2>lot of we found that a lot of these donors

0:39:54.760 --> 0:39:58.040
<v Speaker 2>were young medical kids going you know, adults or so kids,

0:39:58.080 --> 0:40:01.520
<v Speaker 2>but there were adults going through college, needed to pay

0:40:01.560 --> 0:40:03.919
<v Speaker 2>their way through universities and this was just a way

0:40:03.960 --> 0:40:08.160
<v Speaker 2>that they could support themselves. Others had just wanted to

0:40:08.840 --> 0:40:12.480
<v Speaker 2>help people have a family, but didn't really want to

0:40:12.520 --> 0:40:16.040
<v Speaker 2>have any connection after that. But I know by seeing,

0:40:16.040 --> 0:40:19.120
<v Speaker 2>because I've seen a baby photo of the donor, I've

0:40:19.120 --> 0:40:21.760
<v Speaker 2>seen an adult photo of the donor. And you're talking

0:40:21.880 --> 0:40:24.759
<v Speaker 2>in America with three hundred million people, So what is

0:40:24.800 --> 0:40:29.000
<v Speaker 2>the chances of walking by him and saying, oh, that's him?

0:40:29.000 --> 0:40:32.480
<v Speaker 2>But I could honestly say if I did walk by him,

0:40:32.920 --> 0:40:35.720
<v Speaker 2>I would recognize him. And I just have this feeling

0:40:35.960 --> 0:40:40.000
<v Speaker 2>that I'm going to walk by him someday. I don't

0:40:40.000 --> 0:40:40.600
<v Speaker 2>know how.

0:40:41.920 --> 0:40:45.640
<v Speaker 1>To just go to He's going to be a yeah, yeah,

0:40:45.760 --> 0:40:47.080
<v Speaker 1>you think you're recognizing Yeah.

0:40:47.080 --> 0:40:50.920
<v Speaker 2>I honestly I feel like I because you don't get

0:40:50.960 --> 0:40:54.560
<v Speaker 2>to keep the photos, but they're so entrenched in your

0:40:54.560 --> 0:40:57.480
<v Speaker 2>brain that you can just I would know.

0:40:58.560 --> 0:41:01.759
<v Speaker 1>You know, Aaron, guess what what's that? It's the end

0:41:02.000 --> 0:41:05.160
<v Speaker 1>that way. We haven't that quick. You haven't even got

0:41:05.200 --> 0:41:07.719
<v Speaker 1>you haven't got to the Crows yet. Can you wrap

0:41:07.760 --> 0:41:10.400
<v Speaker 1>up a footy career in I mean it's such as

0:41:10.440 --> 0:41:12.960
<v Speaker 1>such a still a footy career. Can you wrap You're

0:41:13.000 --> 0:41:15.520
<v Speaker 1>a pioneer of the women's game. You know you had

0:41:15.520 --> 0:41:19.840
<v Speaker 1>to deal with a dinosaurs like myself who just couldn't

0:41:19.840 --> 0:41:22.680
<v Speaker 1>see that women should be, you know, elevated to this

0:41:22.760 --> 0:41:26.279
<v Speaker 1>status of publicity. But you're there and you've you've seen

0:41:26.320 --> 0:41:29.440
<v Speaker 1>it fifty three thousand people at Adelaide Oval. Can you

0:41:29.480 --> 0:41:32.080
<v Speaker 1>can you wrap up briefly with the Crows and Port Adelaide.

0:41:32.360 --> 0:41:34.239
<v Speaker 2>You do that, I'll give it a go.

0:41:35.160 --> 0:41:36.600
<v Speaker 1>People can buy the book of course.

0:41:36.719 --> 0:41:41.680
<v Speaker 2>Yes. I'm so grateful for how my football journey went

0:41:41.920 --> 0:41:46.280
<v Speaker 2>and ended because I never in a million years thought

0:41:46.320 --> 0:41:49.400
<v Speaker 2>I would be playing football or played football for the

0:41:49.400 --> 0:41:53.359
<v Speaker 2>Adelaide Football Club, but looking back it was I'm so

0:41:53.400 --> 0:41:56.000
<v Speaker 2>grateful it was the Adelaid Crows where I got to

0:41:56.040 --> 0:41:59.600
<v Speaker 2>start my journey. It was wonderful. Phil Harper gave me

0:41:59.600 --> 0:42:01.879
<v Speaker 2>a call wanting wanting me to come across when Port

0:42:01.920 --> 0:42:05.560
<v Speaker 2>didn't get the license. Made Tracy and I feel so

0:42:05.640 --> 0:42:09.400
<v Speaker 2>welcome with our young family, great man. We had just

0:42:09.440 --> 0:42:12.600
<v Speaker 2>so much fun and the players, the culture, it was

0:42:12.880 --> 0:42:17.200
<v Speaker 2>just incredible. Was everything that I thought footy would be.

0:42:17.760 --> 0:42:19.080
<v Speaker 2>Fun wise and just joy.

0:42:19.320 --> 0:42:22.440
<v Speaker 1>And then Alaide and those kids of yours. Because the

0:42:22.520 --> 0:42:24.839
<v Speaker 1>photos of your kids with Crows jumpers on.

0:42:24.880 --> 0:42:27.279
<v Speaker 2>I've still got Crows kids. They still go for the Crows,

0:42:27.360 --> 0:42:30.240
<v Speaker 2>some of them do they yeah, And that's okay. I don't.

0:42:30.480 --> 0:42:31.560
<v Speaker 2>I don't discourage that.

0:42:32.239 --> 0:42:33.759
<v Speaker 1>And then you gotta put I guess you had to

0:42:33.760 --> 0:42:36.360
<v Speaker 1>go to Port Adlaide's were tough years, weren't they.

0:42:36.440 --> 0:42:38.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they were, and I knew it was going to

0:42:38.160 --> 0:42:41.560
<v Speaker 2>be tough. It was. It was starting from zero again,

0:42:41.840 --> 0:42:46.120
<v Speaker 2>bringing new a new team in young players. I knew

0:42:46.120 --> 0:42:49.080
<v Speaker 2>that I was going to jump off the train that

0:42:49.200 --> 0:42:51.200
<v Speaker 2>was going because of how old I was. I was

0:42:51.239 --> 0:42:55.600
<v Speaker 2>thirty seven, which is highly not ideal to start a

0:42:55.640 --> 0:42:58.960
<v Speaker 2>team at Port Adelaide with. But it was the perfect

0:42:58.960 --> 0:43:02.240
<v Speaker 2>way to end my career. I was having these dreams.

0:43:02.280 --> 0:43:04.799
<v Speaker 2>I wrote in the book that when I was contemplating

0:43:04.880 --> 0:43:07.880
<v Speaker 2>going back to port and it was it was really

0:43:07.920 --> 0:43:11.880
<v Speaker 2>a tough decision. And when you wrote that article about

0:43:11.920 --> 0:43:14.520
<v Speaker 2>making a lot of Crows people mad than they should be,

0:43:14.560 --> 0:43:17.239
<v Speaker 2>You're right, it was, and that played a big role

0:43:17.400 --> 0:43:20.440
<v Speaker 2>in my decision of do I go, should I shouldn't.

0:43:20.440 --> 0:43:24.640
<v Speaker 2>I and I'd have these dreams standing at Alberton Oval,

0:43:24.760 --> 0:43:27.920
<v Speaker 2>right and I'm standing in the in front of the

0:43:28.000 --> 0:43:33.480
<v Speaker 2>Foss Williams Stand and it's just empty, but I can

0:43:33.520 --> 0:43:37.080
<v Speaker 2>hear the noise, I can see players. And then something

0:43:37.120 --> 0:43:41.000
<v Speaker 2>grabbed my hand and it was me, at the age

0:43:41.000 --> 0:43:44.880
<v Speaker 2>of whatever, I was six seven, saying we're home.

0:43:45.719 --> 0:43:47.439
<v Speaker 1>So there's all the spiritual star Yeah.

0:43:47.520 --> 0:43:51.080
<v Speaker 2>And from that moment I thought, if I don't again,

0:43:51.160 --> 0:43:54.640
<v Speaker 2>if I don't, if I don't go, I'm gonna regret

0:43:54.680 --> 0:43:58.719
<v Speaker 2>it all. So I appreciate your article when you said yes,

0:43:58.840 --> 0:44:01.920
<v Speaker 2>Crows fans be mad, because they did have a right

0:44:01.960 --> 0:44:03.839
<v Speaker 2>to be mad. There was an element of yes, I

0:44:03.880 --> 0:44:07.280
<v Speaker 2>owed the Crows so much and I'll always be grateful.

0:44:07.320 --> 0:44:10.839
<v Speaker 2>An end debt. But I hope you know, like I've

0:44:10.840 --> 0:44:13.960
<v Speaker 2>sold you before, I hope you know how much I

0:44:14.080 --> 0:44:16.640
<v Speaker 2>gave back and how I'll continue to give back. If

0:44:16.640 --> 0:44:18.799
<v Speaker 2>my kids ever say to me I want to play

0:44:18.800 --> 0:44:21.719
<v Speaker 2>for the Crows, I'll say that's bloody great.

0:44:21.760 --> 0:44:23.319
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much for coming in, Aeron. It is always

0:44:23.360 --> 0:44:25.520
<v Speaker 1>great to catch up. You've just got a charisma about

0:44:25.560 --> 0:44:28.680
<v Speaker 1>you which is just so attractive. There's no doubt about that.

0:44:28.840 --> 0:44:31.000
<v Speaker 1>The book is called Inside and Out Aaron Phillips with

0:44:31.040 --> 0:44:33.640
<v Speaker 1>Samantha Lane. Obviously she helped you put it together. A

0:44:33.760 --> 0:44:36.319
<v Speaker 1>HARDI grant publication. Yep, good luck with it.

0:44:36.400 --> 0:44:37.480
<v Speaker 2>Thank you so much, Graham.

0:44:37.520 --> 0:44:39.720
<v Speaker 1>Great to be here, Aaron Phillips with my guests. Folks,

0:44:39.760 --> 0:44:40.640
<v Speaker 1>thanks for joining us,