Cooee kid loving life
MAGPIE MIHOCEK MAGIC
NEW Collingwood star Brody Mihocek is revelling in the limelight after completing his seven-year journey from Cooee, near Burnie, to the bigtime of the AFL. Four goals on debut against Freo and four more last week to sink the Roos has him on top of the world.
BRODY Mihocek’s father Jack had a question for the Collingwood forward in the rooms after his impressive four-goal haul against North Melbourne last week.
Given the Kangaroos’ high number of blood rule send-offs, Jack joked to his son: “Brodes, did you get one of them?” to which the 25-yearold confessed to have been accidentally responsible for Luke McDonald coming off.
“I said, ‘Mate, that’s good, at least you got one of them’,” Jack Mihocek said this week from the Burnie sports store, Balls and Bumpers, which he and wife Jan run.
Anyone who knows Brody’s feisty father wouldn’t be surprised.
Forty years ago, he was, in Brody’s words, “a red-headed wog who used to belt people up”. Jack laughs at his son’s assessment, admitting he had to give up soccer at 16 after being suspended for two years. As a consequence, this kid from Zagreb, in Croatia, who came to Australia when he was nine, took on the national game.
He played 13 games with Essendon from 1976-78, before making an impression — literally — with Frankston in the VFA and elsewhere.
Jack was physically tough. But he swears his son’s toughness is more admirable, not only because he plays hard and fair, but because of Brody’s persistence in pursuing a childhood dream into his mid-20s when others may have given up, or chased cash in suburban leagues.
In an AFL season bogged down in controversy about the state of the game, Brody Mihocek is one of the feel-good yarns of the year.
The purity of someone so determined to play AFL — and so single-minded in the belief he was good enough — makes a refreshing change to all that negativity.
“It has been a blast,” the quiet, but determined Mihocek said as he prepared for his eighth game, today’s Collingwood-Richmond blockbuster. “On the outside, you see players going into the system and getting kicked out a few years later, wondering what happened with their two years. I knew going in that I needed to make the most of every opportunity.”
He has grasped that long-awaited chance with the firmness of a vice.
Mihocek’s pathway from Cooee, near Burnie, to Collingwood ultimately took seven years.
In between, he balanced a move to Melbourne as a 20-year-old with full-time employment in trying to fund his ambition, yet never lost faith in his ability.
That journey took him from Burnie Hawks to Maribyrnong Park, to a short stint training with Essendon reserves, to Werribee, then to two high-achieving seasons with Port Melbourne, where he worked closely with coach Gary Ayres and defensive coach Ryan James.
Having spoken to half the AFL clubs leading into the 2011 national draft, after being the All-Australian Under-18s centre half-back, his phone dried up until the Magpies finally rang him late last year to say they were interested in rookielisting him. Back then, he was a warehouseman/forklift driver at George Fethers and Co in Port Melbourne, rushing off to the gym at 5.30am before working a full day, then heading off to training at night.
Now, he has become an important member of Collingwood’s multi-pronged forward line, having kicked a goal in every game he has played, being used in attack, despite being recruited as a defender.
“I am only a rookie; all I ever wanted was a chance,” he said.
“Even when I was 18, all I ever wanted was a taste of it, but now that I’ve had it ... I want more.”
“I am still a week-to-week player ... I have still got a lot more to prove before I can cement my spot.
“Everyone has said that the injuries at Collingwood have hurt, but it has helped players get a chance. It is good that people are fighting for their spots. “I’ll be fighting for mine.” He kicked four on debut against Fremantle in Round 11 — which brought a tear to his father’s eye — and four more last weekend.
“That’s the aim, to keep the run going,” he said of his streak of goals. “It’s been a big learning curve, but I’ve felt comfortable from day one. I always thought I was good enough, it was just about getting the opportunity to show it.”
His biggest challenge came against West Coast’s Jeremy McGovern. While Mihocek kicked two goals and had 15 disposals, his Eagles’ opponent was best afield.
“We sort of said that we would kick it away from him, but we didn’t,” Mihocek said of McGovern. “It made me play a bit more on him. I still had my fair share of kicks at goal, and I felt I went all right.”
He won’t be fazed if today’s opponent is Alex Rance.
“Even if Rance shuts me out, it might mean another of our forwards kicks goals. It might be Stevo [Jaidyn Stephenson] or Will [HoskinElliott], or Coxy [Mason Cox]. We are a tough forward line to contain and we pride ourselves on that.”
Rookies earn a minimum of $71,500, but bonus match payments means Mihocek is earning more than he did as a warehouseman. But he isn’t getting carried away. He is playing without the safety net of a guaranteed contract next year.
“I’m not even worrying about what’s ahead,” he said. “I am putting everything into now.”
His father, who has almost sold out of Brody badges in his store given the local interest in Burnie, is hopeful a guarantee isn’t far away. “I said to Eddie McGuire, ‘Everyone is re-signing with Collingwood, don’t leave Brody behind’. [Contracts] are not his area, but he did say the club will look after him.”
Given Brody’s form, and his dad’s former reputation, you’d be stunned if it was otherwise.