WEBVTT - CRIKEY! Coxy Becomes An Aussie! 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:09.680 Gooday, welcome to the Mason Cox Show. No, I'm not 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:13.280 Mason Cox. I'm hardly even six foot tall. My name 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:17.639 is Braydon Cox. But I am joined by the six ' 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:24.959 ten American Australian duel citizen, Mason Cox. It's been a 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:26.840 big week. How's it been been. 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:29.639 A massive week. I'm one of you now, I'm officially Australian. 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:30.440 You're one of us. 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:31.400 I know it's. 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:37.640 Well, you're an Australian now, Maceon, let's jump straight into 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:42.440 the ceremony which took Australia by storm. You were trending 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:44.920 Australia wide. Talk us through it. 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:47.040 Yeah, I think there's probably some positive news to come 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:49.199 out of Collingwood as probably what everyone was pretty desperate for. 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:52.159 So No, it was. It was amazing. It was an 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:52.800 amazing day. 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:54.959 It was very fortunate enough that cong would actually put 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:57.080 on the function at the mcg so they paid for it, 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.760 which was pretty amazing and just a really like umbling experience. 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:02.520 I know people kind of think and there's probably maybe 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:04.000 something we take for advantage. 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:05.080 I say, we you know, this is weird. 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.320 I'm saying we nowadays us, you know, we take for advantage. 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:10.760 I guess the freedoms and the kind of liberties we 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:12.760 have today, and I don't know, like kind of being 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:15.160 there at one hundred and nine of the people getting citizenship, 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:17.920 there was people with some amazing backgrounds and I'm sure 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:18.559 amazing stories. 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:19.160 I didn't have a lot of. 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:20.480 Time to interact with people because I was doing a 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:22.960 lot of media and stuff for it, but just some 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:24.640 of the emotion that came out of people I was 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:26.880 started going up to get their citizenship, Like people were 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:29.840 like full on bawling and like losing it. And I 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.680 can only fathom, I guess, like these people who are 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.040 probably refugees from another country or people you know that 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.600 I've been in dire circumstances that are now you know, 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.320 found this new hope in Australia and now have moved 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:42.680 to this country with a whole new kind of life 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.679 ahead of them. And yeah, it was really like emotional 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:47.200 on the DIY, Like I didn't think I would get 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:49.680 that emotional, but seeing other people and how much of 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.680 mentum was was pretty amazing because I'm super fortunate where 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:54.200 I've just kind of been able to walk into this 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:56.440 where for a lot of people there's a whole new 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:57.160 start on life. 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.840 And the ceremony was huge, obviously put on by Calling 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:04.320 and You Coach Craig McCrae was there, Collingwood CEO Mark Anderson, 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:08.000 and the Lord Mayor, your friend, the Lord Mayor, Sally 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:09.320 cap big Collingwood fans. 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:12.040 Yeah, so she's the first female board member at Collingwood. 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.119 She's also the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, so she's gone 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:17.440 on to do some pretty amazing things. And she's a 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:21.160 ceremonial kind of like induction person for citizenship, so she 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.200 was able to induct me in as a citizen, which 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:24.880 was really cool because I'm like good friends of. 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:25.320 Her and staff. 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:26.519 I think it was cool for both of you. 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:30.440 She love she loved it, and we were big fans 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:32.280 of and she's such a good speaker and she could 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:34.119 tell she just has done a few of these obviously 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:36.680 and with the way she's spoke and everything else is 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:38.760 just spot on and told some pretty amazing stories. And 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:42.200 then Mark Anderson CEO went up there and said some words, 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:44.960 and then we had I think there was a representative 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:47.880 from a federal standpoint was up there and had some 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:50.040 people from like the original part of my journey, like 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:52.040 some of the people have been with me for eight 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.280 years now that have kind of seen me grown as 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:55.960 a human and grown as a football player and everything 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:59.040 else that we're able to kind of show up and represent, 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.239 which was was awesome. It was like cool, get citizenship 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:02.640 and then just see all these people who have kind 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:06.200 of made you who you are, which is like just amazing. 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:08.120 The mom and dad were there, which is awesome. They 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:09.200 got some media times. 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:12.960 So Phil Phil pretty much every news program. 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:14.880 He's got a lot of media this week, between the 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:18.240 Dad's Day we had and the goal kicking extravaganza he had, 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:19.240 which was hilarious. 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:22.120 I'll actually real the tape on that one, but a clip. 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:23.919 Of him kicking, I don't know, he probably needs a 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:24.639 few more pointed. 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:26.320 And he was like he's in the Goald square. I'm 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:27.680 pretty sure he was. 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:31.160 Not far out real straight leg technique. It was weird. 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:33.680 It was it was. It was he's got a long 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:35.680 way to go. Let's just say that we all start somewhere. 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:38.040 And the frame wasn't wide enough. It could have really 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:42.240 sailed off the boot maybe fifty six. The frame was 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.360 goal kicking distance, probably like father, like Sondra. 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:49.240 Yeah, yeah, I know, confidence, confidence is there? 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:51.920 Accuracy question of all times. But it has been a 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:53.680 massive week and it's been pretty amazing. 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:57.040 The coach Craig McRae was there. He I heard him 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.760 speaking about it on se and he was involved in 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:00.840 the ceremony and. 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:05.280 Yeah, even his wife was involved. Yeah, so Gabb's his wife. 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:07.240 And this is a funny story behind it, right. So 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:09.400 I was the first one to go up. They kind 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:10.880 of you know, they say everyone's name, kind of like 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:12.760 graduation style. You know, someone goes up and then the 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:14.040 next person they said the name, they go up and 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:14.760 get the citizenship. 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:15.800 I was the first one. 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.280 The next two people actually my best friends here in Australia, 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:21.360 so they are American and they were getting their citizenship also. 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:23.599 And I go up there and I knew kind of 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:25.640 like everyone in the front row. So there was like, 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.800 you know, the federal leader or the federal representative. Then 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:30.680 there was Mark Anderson, there was Craig mccrane and his 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:32.760 wife Gab, and then there were some other like kind 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:36.600 of people that were you know, representatives from a government standpoint. 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:38.560 So I went up there and I shook Mark's hand, 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:40.840 I shook Craig's hand like you know, gave Gab the 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:42.600 kiss on the cheek, whatever you're gonna call it. And 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:44.720 the next people will come up all my friends who 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.039 also know them because they have been in my journey 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:48.880 for a long time, so they do the same thing. Yeah, 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:52.479 So then they set this precedent that everyone has to 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:53.520 shake everyone's hand. 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:56.799 And then Gab is just Craig's wife. 0:04:57.360 --> 0:04:59.919 She's all of a sudden now like a representative of 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.160 and everyone's like super excited like shaking her hand. 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:04.880 One guy gave her a high five. 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:07.919 At some point she was just eating up, but she 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:10.680 just took it, like took it while. It was so funny. 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:13.120 I was absolutely dying laughing. The whole ceremony, one hundred 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:14.920 and nine people rolled through, a whole one hundred and 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:18.200 nine of them essentially. It was so good, It was 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:20.080 so funny. It was so much fun. Man, The whole 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:20.960 thing was a great day. 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:23.640 And of course the ceremony took place at the MCG, 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.360 which is pretty crazy. I mean, you wouldn't have known 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:31.279 it existed, you know, ten years ago, and now it's 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:34.159 it's pretty much your second home. So what did it 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:38.039 mean for you the ceremony taking place at the MCG. 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:40.840 There was a full circle moment, like I'm talking about 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.360 that of Remember the first time I came to Melbourne, 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:45.680 I went out and walked out with the IFL and 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:47.840 I think Congood at the time, and they kind of 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:49.560 were like, oh, this is the Melbourne crooking around. You know, 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:51.200 this is like one of the most iconic places in 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:53.400 Australia and one of the most iconic stadiums in the world. 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:55.080 And I was like, I had no idea what it was, 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:56.320 so I was just kind of like, Okay, we'll go 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:57.320 walk over there and check it out. 0:05:57.320 --> 0:05:57.479 You know. 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:00.160 We walk in the colisseum of like the MCG and 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:02.800 you kind of see the expansive kind of seats that 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:05.400 go out into this, you know, this massive stadium and 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:07.560 they walk us out onto the ground and like this 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:09.840 is it's pretty like you're not allowed really to walk 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.040 out onto the ground. So there's definitely some you know, 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:14.360 some tape we had to kind of cross and whatnot. 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:17.200 But we went into the center circle and never forget 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:19.719 and they were just like someone whoever was it was 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:22.120 the AFL Collingwood kind of you know, sat there and 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:24.240 said this could be your office and I was like, either, 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:26.040 you know, you got to Houston and working in engineering 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:29.400 job behind a cubicle essentially, or you could sit here 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:31.280 and play at the MCG in front of crowds of 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:33.800 eighty thousand plus to one hundred thousand. And that was 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:36.160 kind of like the moment where I was like, I 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:39.200 think my life's about to change for going down this 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:41.719 path into like IFL because this is something that's not 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:43.520 going to ever come around again and an opportunity I 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:45.640 couldn't say no to. So it's cool to see at 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:48.000 the MCG kind of full circle moment and like I said, 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:50.560 like pretty emotional. I think like being there and just 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:52.599 everything happening so much and having those kind of people 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:56.240 involved was was an amazing kind of life achievement. That 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:59.000 there's moments in life you never forget. You never forget, 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:01.200 you'd never forget those kind of details of everything that 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:04.680 happens that day, and that was definitely one of those moments. 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:08.279 So where does that come from? You know, not everyone 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:12.920 can leave a safe job, pack up and move to 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:18.160 a foreign country in the pursuit of a pretty crazy opportunity, 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:22.560 like you didn't know much about what you were getting into, really, 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:27.720 So where does that adventurous personality come from? 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:31.080 I think I'm the youngest of three brothers, so three 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:35.680 boys from mom God bless her, and I think we 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:39.160 all like kind of enjoyed travel. We all loved, you know, 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.200 getting out doing different things, and we're all very active lifestyles. 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:44.680 And in the US, at eighteen, you kind of go 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:46.000 off to college and you kind of start your own 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:48.280 life out there and you don't live at home. Really 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:49.840 a lot of people move away and go to different 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:52.040 cities and stuff to go to university, and that was 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:54.200 the case for myself, my other two brothers, and I 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:56.640 think once we did that, there's not many people. I 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:58.160 guess that a lot of people don't stay in the 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:00.200 same home, like don't go back to their hometown. Like 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:02.000 in Australia, you kind of go, you know, if you're 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:03.440 from Melbourne and go to Union and Melbourne and you 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:05.440 stay in Melbourne, you work in Melbourne, et cetera. Where 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:07.520 Like that's not really necessarily the case in the US. 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.679 And I think after university we all moved to different 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.360 cities and did different things. And obviously myself, like I 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:15.120 finished Union, I thought I was gonna move to Houston, but. 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:16.280 Then I ended up moving to Melbourne. 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:19.400 And we always just had this love for travel. I 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:21.920 always loved it, and we're very independent. I think my family 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.240 compared with other families I met, and I think we 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:26.720 all just loved kind of going out and experiencing new things. 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:28.200 We all kind of have this mindset of like, you 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:29.960 only do this one time. You know, you only go 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:32.480 around this life once, so why not make the most 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:33.560 of it and see what's possible. 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:36.280 And that's kind of like my life motto. It's like, 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:37.160 you know, I take risks. 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:38.720 If you fail, you learn from it, you move on, 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:40.720 you know, and you know it might seem like a 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:42.600 really you know, tough thing to deal with at the time, 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:44.160 but I guarantee you in five ten years time, we'll 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:44.959 kind of look back and be. 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:46.080 Like, ah, whatever, it is, what it is. 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:47.920 But it led to me, you know, to the opportunities 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:50.320 I have today. So that was probably the biggest thing. 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:52.079 And it was I mean, it was a massive question 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:53.600 mark for me moving over here. Like I'm not going 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:54.840 to sit there and say like, oh, I knew what 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:55.360 AFL was. 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:55.800 I loved it. 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:57.679 It's been a life goal of mine and I always 0:08:57.760 --> 0:08:59.440 dreamed of being an AFL player, Like that was not 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.800 something I thought of. But there's one moment I was 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:05.920 in Saint Kilda Beach. I've talked about this before as 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:07.680 I was with my brother whenever he came out here 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:09.680 on our trip over here, and we sat down and 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:11.400 never forget the place and where it was at the time, 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:13.920 and he said, you know, a degree doesn't expire, but 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.840 opportunities like this will. And that was some of the 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:20.600 best advice I've ever got my life. And he's like, 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:22.640 now I've worked a job, I've done it for you know, 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.319 five ten years, and you know it's great alrea get 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:26.800 paid and all that kind of stuff, But like, would 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:28.520 I rather be working out for a living and being 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:30.640 able to kind of, you know, have a bit more 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:33.079 say in my in my career as far as you 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:34.240 know where it's going to go and how you're going 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:36.000 to how much you can get paid, and contracts and 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.360 everything else. Like it's so unique the way the AFL 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.439 is and in a job sense of being employed by 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.319 someone where comparatively to you know, being employed by a 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:46.280 big company, you're just kind of a number. Where at 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:48.040 Collingwood you can kind of make your own career and 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.000 make something like totally unique out of it, which I've 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:52.520 tried to do over the years. You know, I don't 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:54.880 think I'm really similar to any other person really in 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.000 the IFL. I'm very unique and just different and like 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.160 to say my own say and do things in a 0:09:59.160 --> 0:09:59.640 different way. 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:02.199 And yeah, hopefully people will enjoy it. 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:04.319 So I guess it's probably fair to say that you 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:09.120 love Australia. Now you're an Australian. What compelled you to 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:12.160 kind of make the decision to become a citizen and 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:15.559 stay here and when, I guess did that love really 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:17.000 start to flourish? 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:21.520 Oh man, this kind of sounds a bit cocky, to 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:22.520 be honest. I'll tell this. 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:24.880 I've never really told this story, but I remember when 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:27.120 I first came to Melbourne. I remember going over the 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:30.559 would be the Balty the Balty Bridge. I remember driving 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:33.440 past and they're like, oh, that's the that's my Marvel 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:35.040 Stadium it is now, but back then it would have 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:38.360 been Eddie had Stadium. That's the AFL. You know, that's 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:40.480 where you can, you know, you'll be doing a bit 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:42.400 of work. And then like, you know, here's Melbourne as 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:43.559 a city. And I kind of thought back to that. 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:45.960 I thought, how cool to be to kind of be 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:48.720 like like known in the world, like away from home. 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:50.680 You know, like in a place that's like unique, you know, 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:53.760 and be, you know, create this lifestyle and just different 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:56.040 life away from you know, everything you possibly could have 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:59.800 imagined and essentially have a second chance at doing something totally. 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:03.480 And I was kind of my mindset going into it. 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:04.960 I was like, you got nothing to lose, Like, why 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.320 not just make it the most unique, amazing opportunity and 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.439 experience you could possibly think of. And that's kind of 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:13.800 been my motto for a long time. But there's just 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:15.400 there's been so many people on my way that have 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:17.440 helped me out. I don't think there's been one moment 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:19.199 in my life where I've gone, oh my gosh, I'm 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:20.400 going to stay here for the rest of my life. 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:20.800 I don't think. 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.440 I think it's been accumulative over the years and the 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:26.599 people I've met, and without those connections and stuff, I definitely. 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:26.840 Wouldn't be here. 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:28.480 There's no chance, and I wouldn't be wanting to stay 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:29.680 here for the rest of my life if it wasn't 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:32.560 for those people that have made this experience so amazing. 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.880 But I think in general, man like I've just fallen 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:38.720 in love with the people that make up this country. 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:42.400 Like I think it's very different from America and people definitely, 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:44.600 you know, they work to live, not live to work. 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:47.840 I always say, that's like just how Australian mentality and 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:50.760 culture is. It's like Americans think of Australia, I think, oh, 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:53.480 there's some some dudes chilling on the beach, you know, 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:55.559 shakas and we're I'll just live in the dream now, 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:59.280 like surfing, chilling, riding kangaroos, man like chilling, you know, 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:01.439 like it's the kind of like California vibe. But I've 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:03.320 come to realize there's so much more than that here 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:06.240 in this country. And it's something I've really fallen in 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.480 love with. Like it's amazing man like meaning people like 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:10.840 yourself who you know, very passionate about what they do 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:12.560 and want to do something different and want to you know, 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:14.800 start their own thing and be able to kind of 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:17.679 create their own pathway in life. It's pretty unique to 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.120 anywhere else I've really kind of experienced. So it's something 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:21.599 I've fallen in love with. I've fallen in love with 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:24.160 the people, and the place of Melbourne's been an amazing 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:26.400 you know, it's rated I think number one most Liverpool 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:27.000 city in the world. 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.840 For she's like fifty years straight for a reason, you know. 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:31.960 It's yeah, yeah, yeah, Melbourne. 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:33.880 It is a credit to it, man, It's a reason 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:35.680 I think there's a lot of people want to move here. 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:38.120 And it's like this amazing kind of day to day 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:41.160 life that people really enjoy and there's amazing people that 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:42.880 kind of make it a unique culture. 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:43.200 Now. 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:45.920 I can't imagine it's been all smooth sailing. There would 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:47.840 have been some hard times in your personal life and 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:51.720 in your football life. How did you cope being so 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:55.720 far away from your family, your friends and that kind 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:56.800 of support structure. 0:12:57.160 --> 0:12:59.240 It was a bit of as a learning curve. 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:01.240 I mean, like I think with anything, I wasn't really 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.199 understood how hard it was going to be initially, like 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.200 because whenever you don't have your core group of friends 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:07.600 and stuff to lean on, you just kind of had 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:09.400 people in America who didn't know what you were doing 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:11.199 and didn't understand the situation you were in. 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:13.840 It was tough for those first two or three years. 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:16.320 I remember like breaking down on like out in the 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:19.040 on the track with like Craig McCrae and Anthony Rock 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:20.560 and I couldn't kick a goal because I was like 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:22.320 shit at kicking a football, you know, and I was like, 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:23.760 oh am I not getting this? Why am I not 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:26.400 getting this? And it takes time and practice and everything else. 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:28.400 I remember just breaking down and crying at training and 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:30.840 crying the ice bass and you know, over the like 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:33.720 probably eight years I've been playing, there's been like moments 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:36.199 where you rock up and you just break down the 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:37.719 parking lots, you're just like, I just don't want to 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:40.320 go in today. Like it's just like tough times where 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:42.120 you just really are at your kind of end of 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:43.600 your rope and you just don't know who to go 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:44.880 to and you don't know who to talk to, and. 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:47.360 It's just a it's a struggle. But that's footy. 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:49.880 I think you learn from those tough times of like 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:51.319 how much you can actually go through and get out 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:53.079 the other hand. And you know, you get to other 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:55.480 times where, you know, I think back to like twenty seventeen, 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:56.839 I was like, oh man, do I ever want to 0:13:56.840 --> 0:13:58.599 play footy again? Or twenty sixteen do I want to 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:01.160 play foot again? Then and have amazing years like twenty 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:03.080 eighteen where it's you know, life changing and you have 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:05.600 such amazing experiences and you go, I'm so grateful that 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:07.199 I stuck with it and was able to kind of 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:09.640 get through those hard times come and enjoy the good times, 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:11.360 and it makes those good times so much better. But 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:15.480 even recently with COVID, like getting moved to a different 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:17.600 state and being away from friends and family and your 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:19.960 support network and everything else. Like, yes, we're very fortunate 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:22.120 in the sense that, you know, we were given opportunities 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:23.600 that a lot of people here in Melbourne didn't have. 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:25.680 But it doesn't mean that a lot of the players 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:27.760 were taken away from their families and their networks and 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:29.640 stuff that really keep them on a level playing field 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.040 as far as mental health. And like, there was times 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:33.800 there where I was unsure of what I was gonna 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:35.960 do in contracts, and you know, if I wanted to 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:37.600 go home, if I every wanted to play footy again, 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:38.760 and like all that kind of stuff. 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:40.880 And it even comes to last year, I was out of. 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:43.920 Contract and sitting in the US just traveling around like 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:46.600 seeing if anybody else would ever want to contract me again. 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:48.120 You know, I was like, well, maybe this thing's done 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:50.080 with who I was. You know, you just kind of 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:52.640 get to a realization of like, holy crap, this can 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:54.280 kind of be taken away from you in a very 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.640 very quick way. So yeah, there's there's been some tough times, 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:00.160 no doubt. But yeah, I think like you go back 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:02.480 to the people and everything else that's kind of had 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:04.600 your back since day one, and I mean you look 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:06.960 even to this year, man, like I've had Remember there's 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:08.880 a moment while sitting with I had coach and I 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:10.880 just said, I don't know what I'm doing, Like I'm 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:13.080 not playing on playing VFL, like I want to be 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:14.760 your plain AFL and I know my career is kind 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:16.360 of on the line and I'm not sure what I'm 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:17.720 going to do. And we just sat down, had an 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:19.120 honest chat with each other and just said, this is 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:20.360 where we are, this is where I want to see 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:22.680 you and you know, X amount of weeks and whatever 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:24.040 and then we'll kind of put a game plane in 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:26.280 place to hopefully get you back in to AFL squad 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:28.560 and that's kind of that's where we're at. So it's 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:30.240 been amazing, Like to have a coach like that, who 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.360