Medved eyeing last title
Supercat calls time
“I’m happy, I’m comfortable, I’m sound of mind as to where my decision is.” RETIRING SUPERCAT JAMIE MEDVED
THE low fuel warning light has not flashed on the dashboard yet, but Jamie Medved knows it is time.
After more than 350 games, the former Supercats captain will walk off into the sunset at the end of this finals campaign, excited about finding a new hobby next winter.
“I have a serious passion for horses — I own quite a few of them — and I love the Collingwood footy club, so I’ll be able to take much more advantage of my membership than I currently do,” the retiring Medved told the Geelong Advertiser.
“Then, I obviously have my own beautiful family and my wife, who’s supported me for so long. My wife’s major concern is how I’ll fit back into ‘civilian life’.”
Basketball has been all Medved, “35 going on 25”, has known, and while that passion is yet to dry up, the time seemed right.
“It’s been something I’ve been thinking about for some time, but there wasn’t a crystal clear moment where I said, ‘That’s it’,” he said.
“It’s certainly not form or passion related, it’s just my time. I feel I’ve still got plenty of juice left in the tank, I still enjoy it as much as anybody.
“People tend to look at the birth certificate and say, ‘He’s 34 or 35 and he’d want to think about retiring’, but you can make a very, very strong case to say our last three or four years have been career-best years for us (Nathan Herbert and I).
“I’m happy, I’m comfortable, I’m sound of mind as to where my decision is.”
Herbert said his good mate had made an immense impact on the people around him.
“Through basketball I’ve been able to make some great mates and lifelong friends and ‘Meddy’ is certainly up the top of those,” he said.
“He puts everything into the club and is a great teammate, a great locker room guy and a great player and someone I’m very lucky to have played with over the 15 years we’ve been together at the Supercats.”
Championships — an Australian Basketball Association one in 2006 and a SEABL flag in 2010 — are the clear career highlights for Medved, and the champion baller is dreaming 2018 might produce the ultimate swan song.
“Honestly, always, I always do (dream about championships),” he said. “Why else would you do it? “I’ve always been a guy that sets pretty lofty goals.
“My passion for basketball and the Supercats, my teammates and the fans, I genuinely live it and breathe it day in day out.
“I’m not going to sit here and say there won’t be a void, because there will be — I’m going to miss it, I promise you that — but I’ve got enough ability to find a hobby to take its place at a later date.”