For North Melbourne draftee Joel Crocker, the Christmas break was one like no other. This year, he’ll be living his dream of being on an AFL list.
What was once a period solely dedicated to rest and relaxation, has now been balanced out by structured fitness programs to aid the youngster’s development.
“My previous Christmas breaks certainly haven’t been as intense as this one was,” Crocker told North Media.
“Usually when you have your break in juniors, it’s a break and you don’t do a lot, you might go for a run here and there.
“Although this one was different, it was good. I was able to stay on top of all my training and I made a lot of good progress, so it’s all worth it.”
While he’s still got plenty of size to put on, at 73 kilograms, Crocker is already seeing gains from his dedicated program.
“We get a weights program, an injury prevention program and a running program,” he explained.
“We just follow those programs, so if you go away, you find a gym where you can do your weights and routines.
“It’s pretty easy to find a local footy oval to do your running at, so it’s good.”
Coincidentally, the utility found himself on the Mornington Peninsula over the summer along with two of his new teammates, who took him under their wings.
“I went to Sorrento and Luke McDonald and Luke Davies-Uniacke were down there too,” Crocker said.
“Luke (Davies-Uniacke) is from there, and Luke (McDonald) was down there on holidays.
“LDU took us to his local oval where he played his junior footy and we were able to use the gym there, so we used that to do a few sessions so we could stay up-to-date with our programs.”
Crocker also paired up with fellow Sandringham Dragon alumni, Will Walker, for a high intensity boxing session.
“’Walks’ and I were both in rehab, so we went and did an extra session down at a boxing gym in South Melbourne,” he said.
“Our rehab guy put us onto a trainer, and he put us through a good session and gave us some tips and tricks.”
View this post on InstagramThanks to Mark and the team at FightFit South Melbourne for getting us ready for season 2019!
Having the likes of McDonald, Davies-Uniacke and Walker willing to work alongside Crocker in the infant stages of his AFL career, is something the first-year player is grateful for.
“It gives me a lot of confidence knowing that they are there and want to make me a better player,” he added.
“It’s really good to have those guys there showing me the way and setting the standard with how you need to train so that you can hopefully be a player like them one day.”
