Zac Langdon has covered thousands of
Growing up in the coastal country town of Dampier, nearly 1600
The youngest of three boys, Zac followed in the footsteps of his elder brothers James and Guy, playing football for local Australian Rules club Dampier Sharks, but even as a teenager, he
At the end of Year 10, he approached his parents Tammy and Darren to make his case for moving to Perth – a 16-hour drive from the family’s home – to attend boarding school and open up his sporting horizons.
“That was quite a big decision for him back then,” Tammy said. “He was quite fortunate that we were able to support him in sending him to an exclusive boarding school and having
“But obviously he was very young moving away, taking that step.
“(As) a boy from the country, it certainly wasn’t easy breaking into a group that had been there since Year 7, or some of those kids a lot earlier as well.
“But he made that decision and went, and had lots of challenges along the way there, but he stuck it out, which I really take my hat off to him for doing that.”
Adapt Langdon did, and thrive. He took the opportunities that came his way not only with
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He returned home to Dampier at the end of his studies, taking up a trade as an electrical apprentice.
But the yearning to be a professional footballer never left, and soon after Tammy thought she had her youngest boy back and settled, he was ready for another bold move.
“He came back up here and did his apprenticeship for two years, and one day he said to me, ‘Mum, I want to go to Perth and pursue my footy, and I was like, ‘No!’,” Tammy recalls with a laugh.
“I thought, ‘What are you doing? I thought I had all you boys sorted!’”
Langdon explained his situation to his apprentice masters, who opted to give him six months leave on his apprenticeship rather than cancel it altogether, to allow him to see where football could take him.
But Tammy said within a few months of joining WAFL side Claremont, it was clear Langdon would not be returning to finish his apprenticeship in Dampier.
But the hard
For two seasons, Langdon juggled the demands of his trade as well as playing football in the hope of one day finding a spot on an AFL list.
And after an impressive stint with Claremont, his hard work was rewarded.
By the time the NAB AFL National Draft rolled around last September, he had spoken to a few clubs.
Tammy had diligently prepared for the night, writing up a list of which clubs had spoken to her son and what draft picks they had.
“The night of the Draft, we were all sitting there,” she said. “I actually said to Zac, I think you’re going there
“I actually turned my phone on for that pick number and I was videoing him and he’s just got his hands on his face and I turned the camera around, and he was like, ‘Don’t mum!’ and he was just an absolute nervous wreck.”
But when his name was called out at pick 56, to say the family was ‘ecstatic’ would have been an understatement.
“For his dream to come to fruition – and that was just the first step of it – being drafted was totally amazing,” Tammy said.
“It still feels a bit surreal, to be honest.
“I’m just so, so proud of him and what he has sacrificed, and the hard work (and) determination for him to actually make it is amazing.”
While his family was still coming to grips with Langdon making it onto an AFL list, the 22-year-old was busily making an impression
A solid preseason and encouraging performances in the JLT Community Series earned him the
Langdon is not the only AFL product Dampier has produced.
Past West Coast Eagles premiership player Dean Cox also grew up in the town of fewer than 1400 people.
Cox, who moved to Sydney in the
But he “had more to do” with Zac’s older brother, James, and spent time with his parents Tammy and Darren.
“Obviously, with the age difference, I didn’t get to play with him,” Cox said. “But my brother did.
“They played together in the grand final in 2015 … it was one of my brother’s last years. I think both of them went into the grand final a little bit injured, so
“I watched him closely at Claremont, and then I was really excited to see [the GIANTS] take him in the draft.”
Langdon’s emerging football career had long been one Cox had kept an eye on.
The Eagles champion’s good mate Kristian
“He’s always had a huge interest in Zac’s development and kept me posted the whole way through,” Cox said.
“It’s a career I’ve followed with great interest.
“He had talent from a young age, and his brothers were pretty handy footballers as well.
“With his speed, power and his dedication towards getting the best out of himself, I suppose it was, at times, inevitable that he was going to continue to go through the grades and get a chance in the AFL system.”
Cox finally got the chance to see Langdon in action in earnest when the latter joined Claremont in the WAFL in 2016 and 2017, when the future GIANT’S side battled the West Coast-affiliated East Perth.
The pair spoke before Langdon and after he was drafted by the GIANTS with pick 56 in the NAB AFL National Draft last year and caught up again the day after the GIANTS and Swans faced off in their second JLT Community Series clash.
Their paths also crossed over the Christmas break, catching the same flights when they headed home to Dampier.
“(He comes in) as a bit of a mature-age recruit who’s worked outside of AFL, so he understands what it’s like in the ‘real world’,” Cox said.
“He’s always wanted to play footy at the professional level, but he’s worked really hard to get there, and I think he’s got all the attributes to enjoy handling living away from home and having a really good go at it.
“It’s a really quick
“I suppose he’s shown enough and highlighted over that short period to
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