Former Adelaide midfielder/small forward Ian Callinan has some words of advice for budding footballers - especially those who may have been overlooked.
“My motto was just to play the best footy I possibly could in whatever competition I was playing and in the end, the rest looks after itself,” Callinan, now 39, said.
“That’s the advice I’d have for anyone that misses out.
“You just never know, a bit of luck is involved I think, you’ve just got to be in the right place at the right time.
“But more importantly you’ve got to make sure you’re enjoying your footy and playing the best you can.”
Callinan slipped through the AFL’s net until he became Adelaide’s oldest rookie recruit at the age of 27 in 2011.
He then went on to play 32 AFL games and booting 49 goals in three seasons for the Crows before becoming the Club’s inaugural SANFL captain in 2014, serving that role until the end of 2015.
Speaking on Triple M’s The Crows Radio Show, Callinan, who moved to SA to feature with Central District in the SANFL, never gave up on playing AFL.
“I wasn’t planning to play AFL when I moved,” Callinan said.
“It was always a dream of mine but (moving to SA) was just a great opportunity to try and better myself, playing at a different standard.
“It was a different challenge at SANFL level, there were no intentions to move away to play AFL but to get a phone call from (recruiting manager) Hamish Ogilvie… I remember it like it was yesterday.”
Callinan made his AFL debut in Round 14, 2011, against Geelong and said that was a memory he would always hold close.
“It was unbelievable to be totally honest and I still remember it,” Callinan said.
“It was a chartered flight down to Geelong, I had my wife Lauren there and my son Jack who was six at the time, so he was able to present me with my jumper and that’s something I’ll never forget.
“I still have some great mates at the Crows and I still speak to a lot of the boys now.
“I was only there for probably five years but it felt like I had been there 20 years to be honest.”
Callinan, who played in four SANFL Premierships with Central District, returned to Tasmania once his State League career with the Crows ended.
The father-of-three has, however, had his health battles over the past couple of years and suffered a stroke in 2020.
But the ex-small forward says he is slowly on the mend.
“I’m doing pretty well,” Callinan said.
“The only thing I sort of struggle with nowadays is just fatigue more than anything.
“Physically I am fine but it’s just more the fatigue side of things - I’ve been back to work full time now for about a month so I’m ticking boxes there.”
Tune in this Sunday at 9am on Triple M Adelaide for the next instalment of The Crows Radio Show.
