GOING TO NEW HEIGHTS
Q
You are 209cm tall. Were you tall growing up or did you only shoot up in your late teens?
A
I was fairly tall from about 14 and I developed a bit later and kept growing while everyone slowed down. I was never the tallest in the classroom. I still went straight into the ruck when I started football. I went to Collingwood at about 197cm.
Q
Not many of us see the world from that height. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of it?
A
I guess having the opportunity to have an AFL career is a fair advantage. In Queensland, everyone has eight fans in their house so that has become a bit of a hazard. The odd doorway can become a problem. I have always been relatively tall so it’s just the way I see everything. It has got to a stage now on planes where I do need to get the seat with more leg room. Lucky enough we all fly a lot so we are platinum frequent flyers which helps. I went to Europe a few years ago and I stuffed up my ticket and I didn’t have an exit row seat for a 14-hour flight.
I was in the middle of the middle and that was an interesting flight, cramping in every muscle. Pearce (Hanley) and I will go walking and there will be a super tall fellow walking near us and
I’ll say to Pearce
“have a look at the size of that guy’ and then he will walk past and we will be at eye level.