Ahead of his 50th game, the GIANTS have released the latest instalment of ‘There’s a GIANT in All of Us’; telling Rory Lobb’s remarkable story.
His story isn’t a typical one.
“I ended up getting bullied as a year 8, year 9 student. It was quite hard for me, I struggled at school,” he said.
“Mum and Dad didn't like the way I was getting treated and I ended up leaving school … I didn’t even finish year 9.”
During those times, growing up in Perth in Western Australia, football wasn’t a happy place for Lobb.
“I was in a footy program and a few of those boys bullied me,” he said.
“We were in the same team and they bullied me when we were not training. You think, I'm good at sport, I'm in a footy program. I should not be a person getting bullied as bad as I did.
“You can get bullied being anyone.
“I ended up working in Perth and didn't go back to football as a lot of people bullied me that I didn't want to play or see so I went back to basketball and I played that until my WAFL year in 2013.”
Lobb worked as a painter, a labourer, a machine operator and owned a landscaping business. Football wasn’t even on his radar until he returned to the sport at the age of 19 for two seasons with Swan Districts.
“You don't think playing one year of football you will get picked up by an AFL team,” he said.
“Hard work actually does pay off
“I value hard work, all my life I've had to work hard and it's no different at the GIANTS.”
The youngest of six kids – and definitely the tallest - Lobb arrived at the GIANTS at pick 29 in the 2013 NAB AFL Draft.
“You come as a young player and start from scratch - you need to make sure you show your strides,” he said.
After playing just 11 games across his first two seasons, the 207cm ruck/forward was challenged by his coach to improve at the end of the 2015 season. Lobb responded.
He spent just a week at home during the break, returning to the club early to begin a rigorous fitness campaign that saw him flourish, playing 20 games in his best season to date.
That’s just the way Lobb does things.
“A lot is to prove that a kid that got bullied at school, that left school, had to go into the workforce and worked hard to get where I am now,” he said.
“That drives me everyday to better myself every time I come to the club.”
Lobb will play his 50th AFL game on Saturday against the Demons.
The latest ‘There’s a GIANT in All of Us’ piece comes off the back of the recent release of co-captain Callan Ward’s story as he shared his leadership journey and the pain of the 2016 Preliminary Final.
The ‘There’s a GIANT in All of Us’ campaign, launched in early 2016, also features athletes from both the AFL and AFLW GIANTS teams; including AFL stars Jeremy Cameron, Shane Mumford and Zac Williams, AFLW players Jess Bibby and Amanda Farrugia and GIANTS Netballers Sam Poolman and Kristina Brice.
The GIANTS take on Melbourne in the nation’s capital on Saturday at 1:45pm at UNSW Canberra Oval. Click here for tickets.
