When you utter the words ‘Glenn Archer’, phrases like committed, never-say-die, courageous and of course, Shinboner come to mind.
But while Archer will be remembered as one of the toughest players of all time, even he wasn’t immune to criticism.
Speaking to Rex Hunt, the champion Kangaroo revealed the challenges he faced having the confidence to play at the highest level.
“My first year (1992) I really struggled,” he said on SEN’s Your Football Life segment.
“Wayne Schimmelbusch brought me in at about round four and gave me about three (two) games. I went really average.
“I always remember playing Footscray at the MCG. When you first start you can hear the crowd and sort of hear what they are saying.
“It was about my fourth (second) game and I remember getting the ball and I wasn’t a very good kick when I started. I turned the ball over and you could hear the crowd shout ‘ahh’, then I’d get another possession, turn it over and you could hear ‘oh no’. The third time I heard ‘get the kid off’.”
The then 19-year-old was certainly not alone in taking time to adjust to playing in the AFL, but admits it was a tough period.
“I got dropped after that game, then played a couple of good games in the seconds,” he said.
“I might be one of the only guys that’s ever done it, but I didn’t turn up to training on a Thursday because I knew they were going to pick me for the seniors.
“I just thought ‘I am out of my depth here, I don’t want to get a game’.”
After his initial omission, Archer didn’t return to the senior team for eight weeks.
He was dropped again after three more games, but finished the season with four successive appearances.
It was a challenging start, but by midway through the following season, 1993, there were no doubts that Archer was up to it; five goals in Round 12 against the Eagles earnt him a Rising Star nomination.
His emergence as a player coincided with the arrival of Denis Pagan as coach.
“Denis was just a great developer of kids. He coached the under 19’s for 11 years and made ten grand finals,” Archer said.
“What probably worked for him as well … when he came in to us as the senior coach in ’93, he’d coached most of us through the 19’s. He knew us intimately, he knew what button to push.
“He was a hard taskmaster - particularly in the 19’s, he was very hard.
“The day he got announced, three quarters of the list that were coached by Denis went ‘oh no, he’s back’, but it was the greatest thing for us.”
Pagan used his knowledge of the players to great effect, ultimately guiding North to two premiership wins, in 1996 and 1999.
And of course, Archer was there every step of the way … any seed of doubt about his own ability quickly disappeared as he became one of the greatest Kangaroos of all time.
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