By Rebecca Mills
What some may say he lacks in height, GIANTS midfielder Devon Smith more than makes up for with his hard, tough, contested brand of football.
As one of just eight players at the club to play every game of the 2012 season –his first in the AFL - Smith has begun to attract the attention of some the industries toughest critics.
He attacks the contest, racks up possessions in the midfield and to date has the highest number of tackles of any first year player in the AFL with 26.
Not bad for a bloke that couldn’t sleep last year because his hips were in so much pain.
Rewind thirteen years and Smith was playing in the mud in the Lara little league in Victoria with his two older brothers Kane and Josh.
“I started when I was five playing in the local competition in Lara where it was the Reds v the Blues.
“I used to love playing in the wet and the mud which my mum wasn’t all that happy with. I remember that I was always so much smaller than everyone else.
“I played for Lara until I was in year 11 then I got a scholarship to Geelong Grammar and played for Victoria in the TAC Cup.”
Smith impressed throughout the Junior ranks, playing at Victorian level in the Under 12s, 15s and 16s but crippling hip pain threatened to derail his dream of playing in the AFL.
“Everyone thought that I had groin soreness and that I had OP so I didn’t train at all during the week, I would just play on weekends.
“Every night I had to have an ice bath because I couldn’t sleep. For about eight months no one could figure it out then I went and saw one lady, did two stretches and she told me exactly what I needed.”
The fierce ball magnet had hip surgery in March last year but needed to be kept on a short leash by the Geelong Falcons during his rehabilitation to stop him from pushing himself too far.
“I was lucky, I came back within nine weeks when it was supposed to take twelve.
“It was hard trying to hold me back. I had a really good mentor at the Falcons, Damian McMahon, and he explained to me that if I went too hard it could ruin me in the long run so I just tried to hold back.
“Even when I got back to training, they had to pull me out of drills because I was going too fast.”
He went in to the historic 2011 NAB AFL Draft night with expectations of going high in the draft count.
His 27 possession; six goal performance in the second game of last year’s National Championships had the media talking and he was tipped to go to one of three clubs, Port Adelaide, Brisbane Lions or the GIANTS
He didn’t care about his draft number. The only thing that he wanted was to be in the same place as his best friend and now GIANTS team mate, Taylor Adams.
“I was very nervous on draft night. I was with my brother and my dad and all the papers were predicting that I would be going to Port Adelaide.
“I just really wanted to go anywhere with Tay, it didn’t matter if that was in the top ten or as a rookie. I grew up with Taylor and we’ve been best friends since we were sixteen.
“After the draft got past eleven I started to freak out a bit. I thought I’d be going to the GIANTS, Port or Brisbane and once the first eleven picks were done I really didn’t know what would happen.
“Taylor was called out at 13 which was a happy moment. He was sitting behind me so I turned around and smiled and he winked.
“The rumors were that I would go before him; I thought I would so I just had my fingers crossed that I would go in the next pick.”
He did. Smith was selected with pick number 14 in last year’s draft, one after his best friend and the pair packed their bags and moved to Western Sydney to begin their first AFL pre season training.
“Pre season was tough. You think that one day you have gone out and done the biggest session of your life then you have to go out and do it all over again.
“I fell asleep in one of the forwards meetings once. About eight of us did that day, it was the day after the sand dunes.”
Now, Smith has played every AFL game with a ferociousness and solid possession count that the Dream Team faithful have come to expect from him.
“I didn’t think I would get this big of a run at the start of the season.
“Each week I sit down with Brett Hand and set my goals and just hope to get picked. So far it’s been amazing.
“I just want to play good, consistent footy and get as many games as I can this year.
Tomorrow, Smith will line up for his seventh AFL game against the Gold Coast SUNS, a game that he says the GIANTS are determined to win.
Smith is one of 15 players from the GIANTS and Suns playing in this weekend’s match who went through the AIS-AFL Academy.
“I’m glad Gary Ablett is playing because if we beat them, when we beat them, they don’t have any excuses.”
AFL Premiership Season Round 7
GWS GIANTS v Gold Coast SUNS
Saturday May 12
Manuka Oval, ACT, 1.40pm
