Footscray captain Jordan Russell is relishing the chance to share his broad range of football experiences with the young guns of one of the AFL’s hottest clubs.
Russell, 29, played 116 games for Carlton from 2005-12 and nine for Collingwood in 2013 as a medium-sized defender. He joined Footscray in 2014 after the Magpies delisted him and is currently combining his captaincy role with that of a full-time development coach for the Western Bulldogs.
“I think I have a really good knowledge of all the highs and lows of AFL footy,” Russell said.
“I had a whole range of experiences, from moving interstate to playing 100 games to being injured to being on the top of your game to being dropped and getting delisted.
“I think over the past six or seven years of my footy career I’ve tended to head towards the younger guys and tried to mentor them off the back of my AFL career going down the drain a little bit. It was a bit of a natural reaction to get away from my form when I was at AFL level and it sort of continued on into the VFL.”
Russell’s primary task is to fast-track the development of the Bulldogs’ first to third-year AFL-listed players and have them ready to step up into senior coach Luke Beveridge’s high-octane outfit.
He’s currently working closely with Zaine Cordy, Josh Prudden and Roarke Smith, three young defenders Russell was “absolutely rapt” to see break through for two, four and one AFL game(s) respectively last year.
However, with Prudden injuring his ACL in the VFL three weeks ago and Smith sidelined by his own ACL injury since August, Russell has realised the benefit of his dual role as both their teammate and development coach.
“I want to make sure they’re going OK and have regular chats with them – not just about footy stuff,” Russell said. “They might seem like they’re OK on the surface but there are often times they might go home in this period when no one’s with them and they might be struggling.
“Because I’ve been playing with them, I feel like we have a relationship built and mutual respect there already, so you can potentially break down any walls that a player-to-coach relationship might have because it’s also player-to-player.”
As for his own playing career, Russell notched his 100th senior VFL game in Round 1 after a 2015 season in which he was named in the VFL Team of the Year back line.
The no.9 pick in the 2004 AFL Draft now seems on top of things, both on and off the field.
He’ll be hoping Footscray’s wealth of young AFL and VFL-listed talent can carry the club to another memorable premiership, as they did in 2014. That day, Russell enjoyed one of the finest moments of his football career as stand-in skipper for injured co-captains Nick Lower and Lukas Markovic.
“Your career highlight would be winning an AFL flag, but to win one in probably the second-best competition in Australia and being default captain was an amazing feeling,” Russell said.
“For me individually, it was amazing to be down about my AFL career being over but then come to a really good club and get that success straight up.
“I’m already looking forward to the 10-year reunion in eight and a half years.”
Last Modified on 04/05/2016 23:51