On the eve of his 100th game in round one, club best and fairest Ben Cunnington says he’s expecting much more attention from opposition teams this season.
"I suppose there will be," he told The Age.
"But our core group, like myself and 'Ziebs', Ryan Bastinac, Shaun Atley and those guys, we're all in our prime now, and it's us who probably have to stand up and help keep going the way we are as a footy club. There might be a bit more pressure there, but we're all pretty confident we can do it."
Despite being shocked when his name was read out as the Syd Barker Medal winner at the end of the 2014 season, the 23-year-old hasn’t let the accolade change him.
"Not really…The guys joke around, 'Boomer' [Brent Harvey] reckons he should have won the 'B and F', but it's a team game, and you have to all do the same hard work, and when you come back for pre-season, you're just another one of the boys."
When he thinks back to that night when he walked up to the stage to collect his award, the midfielder admits to being lost for words and overwhelmed.
"That's an understatement," he said.
"It still hasn't sunk in, really. Obviously, I'm very proud to have won it, but I still don't really know what I'd say."
The secret to his breakthrough season may be his ability to switch off from football and get away from it all. He says fishing has become his escape.
"I've always had a passion for it, ever since I was really young and me and my dad and pop used to go down to the rivers and catch bream," he said.
"I really struggled with homesickness my first couple of years in Melbourne, I needed something to take my mind off footy because it was so full-on, and it's something that's just grown and grown.
"There's so many different ways to fish, and you can never conquer it. I'm a competitive person, and I suppose that comes into fishing as well, and I just love being out on the water.
"I mainly just do it off Altona, but when I get a couple of days, I'll go down to Port Fairy or head down to Gippsland. I don't mind travelling.
"People who aren't into it look at you and think you just put a worm on a hook, sit back and relax, and just wait for the line to bend over. But it's a massive sport. The way artificial baits have come in with soft plastics, hard-bodied lures to impersonate little fish … it's crazy the way it's going. It's just getting bigger and bigger."
So too is his career. Drafted at No. 5 in 2009, Cunnington was a standout last season and recorded career-best numbers which included an average of 22 disposals and six tackles a game.
"I suppose there was more self-belief," he said.
"You can play a good game every now and then, but to back it up, that's another challenge, so I suppose it was pretty good.
"I've definitely tried to work on my defensive pressure, and tackling is a key to that. If I'm not winning the clearance, what am I doing? I've got to try to tackle. It's definitely a major part of my game.
"I feel like my inside game is going OK. It's probably once the ball gets outside the stoppage that I've got to do the work on both sides. Once the stoppage breaks it's about getting a bit more outside ball, and covering off the most dangerous [opponents] if we don't have it."
He’s come a long way since 2011 when Melbourne coach Paul Roos labelled him and Ziebell "unfit for AFL level" and "next to useless" after a loss to Richmond. Cunnington admits the comments hurt.
"Yeah, it did. I suppose early on, I was all 'footy, footy' and took everything really seriously. But after a few years, you learn what to read and what not to read, and I stay pretty low-key with all the media stuff now, whether it's good or bad."
One of North’s best in the finals against Essendon, Geelong and Sydney, Cunnington hopes to play more football on the big stage.
"That's when you want to play your best footy, isn't it.
"Just being there, in front of big crowds, and winning a couple, it's just the greatest feeling. That's why you train and play and what you dream of as a kid. I just tried to give it everything I had."
