ASK ISAAC:
Geelong star answers your questions INSIGHTS FROM GEELONG GUN ISAAC SMITH
Who is the most accurate kick at the club? And who would you back to kick a goal for the Cats after the siren?
– Jett Dawson I would say Tom Hawkins, he has a lot of shots on goal, but he does miss some. It’s funny, I played with Ben McEvoy at Hawthorn and he’s probably the most accurate kick I have ever seen. He can’t kick over a jam jar, but every time he had a shot from 30m, you knew it was going straight through. He couldn’t kick a huge distance, but he was a beautiful kick over 35-40m. Hawk’s ability to shape the ball and have such an array of different kicks is pretty amazing and he’s so accurate, so I would have to say he would be the man I’d want kicking for goal after the siren. Mitch Duncan would be another. I haven’t seen Mitch take a hell of a lot of shots on goal, but his ability to hit the target in general play is as good as anyone I’ve played with.
Do you like playing midfield, or would you prefer to play in a different position?
I quite enjoy playing midfield. The older I get, I could probably move to half-back and that would be another enjoyable position, especially where I could be a spare and float behind the ball. But I very much enjoy playing in the middle and getting forward and trying to get some score involvements.
What’s the main difference you have found playing for Hawthorn and now Geelong?
– Craig Bee
I think the main differences are purely location. It’s more laid back at the Cats and you can go about your work on a quieter basis when you’re not in the bubble of Melbourne. Because of the regional aspect, Geelong sees football a lot differently to Hawthorn, and that’s not right or wrong. As a club, I feel Geelong is a lot more connected and integrated in the community because we’re a one-club town and we have the ability to do that. And the one thing you feel when you walk the streets of Geelong is that it’s a club of the residents and citizens of Geelong and we’re just honoured to be there. For example, at Hawthorn, as much as they do such wonderful work in the community and down in Tasmania, is doesn’t have the feel of a one-club town.
Do you have any pre-game superstitions?
– Sarah Atkinson
I’m not superstitious, but in the early part of my career I had a pretty strong routine and I didn’t waver from that too much. For example, I would go for a walk the night before, eat the same food and making sure I was getting lots of vegies in, doing a stretching session and going to the same place for a coffee. But as your career evolves, to maintain that routine is so mentally draining, so each year something would drop off to the point now where I have absolutely nothing, and I have kids at home. I get to the game, and whether it be 2.10pm, 3.20pm, 7.50pm it doesn’t matter what’s happened during the day, week or night before, I’m ready to play and perform. I think it’s important for a young player to have a routine because it teaches them discipline and they are automatically switched on to the task at hand.
Did you play football as a kid or did you play other sports as well? – Maddox Grima
I played footy when I was around 10 years of age. It wasn’t a huge sport where I grew up in country NSW. When I was a lot younger, it was all rugby league and cricket. So they were the two main sports I played in my formative years. As a I got older I played a lot of footy, but my main focus was cricket and that was where I was headed towards. I also did a lot of cross-country and touch football, so I played a mixture of sports. I was fortunate to play a lot of sports and get such a mix of skills that I implement in football.