Whatever you don't expect him to say, that's what he will say.

Yeah, I'd say that's pretty accurate.

I'd also say that, you know, I'm certainly would never accuse Tom of, um, playing a character, but he certainly is obviously in his own environment at the footy club where he's comfortable and, you know, you're just getting through a normal week, having a good time.

He is very relaxed and very easy to get along with.

Very up and about.

Um, loved a joke, loved a laugh.

Uh, certainly was always Tom, right? He was always had his own sort of intricate way and interesting way of tackling the world.

Yeah.

Describe that four or five-week period because it just kept building and building and getting better and better.

Well, I think it's probably relevant in the context of the wildcard to say that, you know, five weeks of footy is an insane amount of footy to have to play in the finals levels.

And obviously, seeing the dogs play in that first wildcard round, you saw the level of footy go up.

It seemed like the intensity went up.

And all that says to me is that obviously coming from that position is all the harder because you do have that extra week.

Now, I think one of the big things for people to understand, and particularly around any team that's playing in the finals this year...

And as you get to the pointy end is that pretty much everyone's stuck together with sort of, you know, wrapping tape and a bit of sticky tape and whatever else gets you through a game.

What does the AFL need to do better to help players who are exiting the system and especially against their will when they're delisted?

Describe that four or five-week period because it just kept building and building and getting better and better.

Well, I think it's probably relevant in the context of the wildcard to say that, you know, five weeks of footy is an insane amount of footy to have to play in the finals levels.

And obviously, seeing the dogs play in that first wildcard round, you saw the level of footy go up.

It seemed like the intensity went up.

And all that says to me is that obviously coming from that position is all the harder because you do have that extra week.

Now, I think one of the big things for people to understand, and particularly around any team that's playing in the finals this year...

And as you get to the pointy end is that pretty much everyone's stuck together with sort of, you know, wrapping tape and a bit of sticky tape and whatever else gets you through a game.

What does the AFL need to do better to help players who are exiting the system and especially against their will when they're delisted?

The knockdown to Bond.

Yeah.

I mean, look, I think my view having obviously – spent a lot of time watching Timmy and the boys in that game against North Melbourne.

And I said it on the night, Timmy's intensity at his centre bounce work has been phenomenal from what I've seen.

But what has lacked a little bit is his effort and intensity, or at least his effectiveness, rather than talking about intent, around the ground.

Like his ability to get forward, take marks, his ability to follow up and chase.

Not where it has been, but at the end of the day, if he can get up and over those guys in the centre bounce and give it the likes of Bont's first use, it's going to be hard to not go, he's making a massive positive impact to our team from my point of view.

Remember when Clay used to put his head over it? Del House did it a few times in that prelim.

He's a higher

level than me.

Definitely not true.

I got a text message at some stage.

I could probably find it.

But probably two or three weeks ago, I only want to go and do this.

I'm like – You know, I'll do most things in this world once, you know.

Has he got the yips?

Yeah

... from our smaller forwards in the front half, and we c- we cost us on the scoreboard.

And Bevo's gonna be sitting there and saying, "Boys, we fixed it, and then we lapsed back," and then that's what cost us in the second half of that second quarter.

This is Dogs Radio for Capital, platinum partner of the Western Bulldogs.

Australia's number one builder, transforming construction, transforming life, transforming tomorrow.

Great to have them on board, and they've signed a three-year deal with the Dogs during the week, too, to take us through to 2029.

And great to have them on, uh, the very first rendition of Dogs Radio here on the SEN app.

I look at Liber playing across half forward, Bubba, and I, I just don't see him in that position.

So did you play a season with the GWS before you then went back to the Western Bulldogs, who you won a comp with in 2016? Did you have a season there?

Yeah, for sure.

So I was drafted about 10 days after my final school exam.

So in Australian rules football, we have the draft draft.

At the time that I was picked up in 2013, you couldn't get drafted until you were turning 18 in that year.

So I flew up to Sydney.

I spent 12 months playing up there.

Do you think a lot of time we give lip service to doing the right things around mental health, but when push comes to shove, it's a different story?

So did you play a season with the GWS before you then went back to the Western Bulldogs, who you won a comp with in 2016? Did you have a season there?

Yeah, for sure.

So I was drafted about 10 days after my final school exam.

So in Australian rules football, we have the draft.

At the time that I was picked up in 2013, you couldn't get drafted until you were turning 18 in that year.

So I flew up to Sydney.

I spent 12 months playing up there.

And yet we always say to each other, oh, let's look at mental health as just like a broken leg or a an ACL injury and yet if there was a broken leg or an ACL injury it would be a very different conversation that we're having about these athletes do you think a lot of time we give lip service to doing the right things around mental health when but when push comes to shove it's a different story

Mm

... um, there was definitely an expectation in that year but, um, yeah, probably not to the extent that, that, that we have it at the moment.

Um, at the same time, I guess we're still trying to take it week by week, having, having had that experience and, you know, we've had some great ex- great success in the, in the senior grade, but we haven't quite got there in the, in the seconds.

So we'd love to, to do a double and, and get, yeah, both sides into the granny again and, and then, yeah, try and push for both.

But as we, as I said, we're sort of just trying to take it week by week.

We know what injuries can do.

We know what, you know, bad habits and bad form can do this time of year.

We've seen him half forward on ball and on the outside as well.

Yeah.

I now speak, you know, publicly 80 to 100 times a year.

I've got a radio show.

I'm also working full time or thereabouts.

And, um, you just look at your life and you, you blink, and it's like all of a sudden, you know, you're a completely different person to the one that you imagined growing up.

But I think, um, for the most part, one of the things that I've said to people is, you know, when you're in a career like football, and in particular where I felt like the, um, the world of footy just fundamentally didn't align with who I was.

Um, and the reason for that is pretty simple, is sort of I'm not a big fan of boiling people down to two hours a week, um, is the s- the simplest way I can describe it.

Mm.

Regardless of that, though, how important is the community and the media reaction?

In reality, it sort of doesn't matter whether the, the issue is on the player or on the club or, or anywhere in between.

At the end of the day, essentially what's happening at the moment is there's a huge amount of speculation, and the entire footballing public, being driven obviously through the media and the social channels as well, is focused on this issue.

And, uh, just to put a, sort of a really clear bullet point on the situation as a player going through this, this permeates every moment and every area and piece of oxygen in your life.

And on top of that, as much as it's now impossible to leave the house comfortably, to have conversations with people, to, you know, turn up to the club and feel safe and, and comfortable, you can't do any of those things in reality if you are in Elijah's position, and it is an incredibly suffocating environment to be in.

The subsequent part of that is that for friends and family members and teammates, colleagues, coaches, support staff, and fans of the club, they're gonna receive the same questions in varying degrees of intensity that Elijah's gonna have to confront as well.

And what it starts to do is it means that the club as a whole, and everyone associated with that footy club, including the family and friends and parents and everyone who's close to this individual, will start to bear the weight of that as well.

Do you think something like that would be important?