When tough young midfielder Maverick Weller joined the Gold Coast SUNS from Tasmania’s industrial north last year he arrived with a strong footballing bloodline and a big reputation.
In many ways his future as an AFL-listed talent was pre-determined.
The son of a former Tasmanian representative and SANFL player, Weller was a highly decorated junior back home in Burnie. He was also a graduate of the AIS/AFL Academy, and a key playmaker for the Tasmanian Under 18’s at the 2009 National Championships.
Even so, the announcement this week that at just eighteen years of age Weller will stand alongside the likes of Gary Ablett, Campbell Brown, Nathan Bock and Michael Rischitelli as part of the GC SUNS first ever leadership group sees an already rapid rise border on the meteoric.
Speaking after training on Wednesday, Weller said he was genuinely humbled by his selection.
“It’s a massive honour,” he said. “Absolutely huge.”
Weller enjoyed being a member of last year’s coach-appointed leadership group during the club’s VFL campaign, but this year, with all eight club leaders voted in by the playing group, was something altogether different.
“Obviously last year it was fantastic to be given a chance by Bluey [GC SUNS Senior Coach Guy McKenna], but this year I really wanted to earn the opportunity. I definitely didn’t nominate myself. I wanted to be selected by my peers. To have their support is what makes being included in the group a real privilege.”
So which qualities does he think attracted leadership votes his way?
“I think my nature helped. I’m an approachable bloke and I like to think I get along with everyone. I go pretty hard at it on the training track too, so that probably helped too.”
They’re sentiments echoed by GC SUNS GM Football Operations, Marcus Ashcroft.
“Mav has a great rapport with his teammates. There’s no doubt he’s a well-liked member of our squad. His job now is to take it to the next level. Now he has to go from being well-liked to a well-respected as a leader. It’ll require concentration and real determination and discipline, but he’s definitely capable of making a real fist of it.”
Ashcroft said Weller’s almost unquenchable thirst for work holds him in good stead.
“He goes at everything at a hundred and fifty per cent. He’s a really high energy individual. Sometimes we have to reel him in a bit. But there’s no doubt the players respond to his intensity and try to emulate it. His learning curve will be steep but he’ll take an enormous amount from the senior guys in the leadership group and from his first AFL year in a more general sense.
Weller’s leadership role-models outside the walls of his own club are the modern standard-setters. He’s always admired the follow-me-over-the-trenches captaincy of Luke Hodge and Jonathan Brown. The fearless sacrifice of Cats’ hard nut Joel Selwood also impresses.
“The guys who stand out to me are the blokes who can have a real impact when it matters most. The ones that just have that burning pride in their jumper and courage coming out their ears. The one’s that lead by example. But for me there’s also the off-field element to consider. We are a young group and there’ll be pressures away from football. I’d like to think I can set an example there as well.”
They’re mature words for a bloke fresh out of Gold Coast’s All Saints College, the school where just a few months ago Weller completed Year 12. But Weller doesn’t believe his age will be an impediment to his effectiveness. Instead he’s approaching the experience from several angles. All at once it’ll be an exciting ride, a chance to learn and an opportunity to cement a leadership role as the club evolves.
“If you step back from it all, there’s no hiding the fact that I’m just a young pup compared to some of these guys who’ve got All-Australian honours and Brownlows and Best and Fairest’s to their credit. They’re all going to have a lot say and I’m going to be doing a lot of watching and listening so I can take on as much as I can.”
He said the response back home in Tasmania has been fever pitch.
“Mum and Dad are very much on the outside looking in. That makes all this a really big deal for them. They were just stoked. To be honest their reaction surprised me a bit. Being around the club every day you just get so caught up in the excitement of building towards the footy season and being absolutely committed to where we want to go so you don’t tend to get caught up in these sort of moments.”
With the club’s first AFL outing against Carlton in Round 2 now only 74 days away, Weller said playing group had noticeably sharpened its focus.
“The period before Christmas was pretty full on, of course, but since we all came back after the break the intensity’s definitely gone up. There’s a real physicality to the way the blokes are going about it. There’s no walking to the cones between drills. No one’s letting anyone get away with little things like that. Everyone’s making sure every little aspect of their training counts.”
He said he couldn’t help but think ahead to the club’s first game and - if picked to play – living out of a lifelong dream.
“I’ve got ‘Round Two’ written on my wall at home, so I can’t really escape the thought of it. To be a part of the team in that first game will be history in the making. But there’s fifty-two guys here at the club who are all up to the task and everyone wants to be there when the moment comes. I’ve just got to do everything right in the lead up to give myself every chance. It motivates everyone at the club. I’ve been thinking about what it’d be like. I’ll want to do whatever I can not to be overawed, but at the same time knowing I’m going to be in for an absolute scrap in what’ll be the biggest game of my life.”
