When the Roos travel, there’s always downtime. In a new series, NMFC.com.au catches up with various room-mates in an effort to get to know them better and find out exactly what they get up to away from home.
Last movie you saw and rating out of 10?
Shaun Atley: “The Railway Man, it was pretty good. We went as a double date with my girlfriend Karina and JMac and his girlfriend Olivia. 8 out of 10 from me.”
Jamie Macmillan: “I thought I would be a good boyfriend and take Olivia to see Labour Day. It was yuk, I didn’t enjoy it. 2 out of 10 from me.
Favourite App?
Ats: “JMac’s favourite would be the stock market one because he’s always all over that. Mine is definitely emails on my phone right now, with the business ideas we’ve got going. We’re thinking about starting a photo booth company together.”
JMac : “We need to work out a few things but we’re thinking ‘Pirate Photo Booths’ for the name. I’m a big Instagram man but I love the Herald Sun app, it’s the first thing I read every morning. To keep up to date.”
Favourite music?
Ats: “I saw Eminem with some mates from school. He was unreal, so my playlist is pretty much all Eminem. I haven’t really been to a hip hop concert before but it was really good.”
JMac: “My playlist right now is a 90’s hip hop mix, I just discovered it. It’s a 50 minute mix of different stuff including Ja Rule. I put it on in the gym once and it got great reviews.”
Roomies’ worst habits?
JMac: “Shaun stole the doona off me one night. We were in single beds and he rolled over and took it. It’s a fair reach from the single bed…I think it was the Brisbane trip last year.
Ats: “I didn’t mean to…I was sleeping. I seriously don’t remember doing that.”
Pre-match superstitions?
Ats: “I clean my boots with a clean bath towel.”
JMac: “That does my head in. I go in to use my fresh towel and it’s got dirt all over it. It looks like he’s wiped something else on there…my superstition is to not have a superstition. I used to have heaps but then I got rid of them over time.”
Weirdest superstition?
Ats: “Drew Petrie has to have a camomile tea, it calms his nerves. He brings his own from home.”
JMac: “Cunners (Ben Cunnington) does exactly 34 push ups every night before a game.”
Pre-game activities?
Ats: “Something we always do is go to the servo or supermarket the night before. We get chocolate milk and a couple of snacks to take back to our room. Last night we got some yoghurt. We also play a few games. We’ve been going through a big ‘Call of Duty’ phase. We’re also into the TV show The Walking Dead at the moment so we’re watching that to pass the time.”
Jmac: “Shaun and I have little business meetings in our spare time and do some brainstorming for new ideas that we could start up. We usually get a massage the night before as well but today we had them this morning.”
Favourite mini-bar item?
JMac: “Occasionally we have something out of the mini bar…”
ATS: “There’s only three things in there and there’s none left.”
JMac: “I had the cherry ripe and Shaun likes dairy milk.”
Ats: “Everything’s alright in moderation.”
Biggest eater?
Ats: “The weights coach Dan Meehan. He usually makes the most of the buffet. Scott McMahon was complaining there was no buffet last night so he ordered room service after dinner.”
JMac: “Jona our dietician drowns all his meals in tomato sauce. He tries to claim it helps stop testicular cancer, but you have to have so much of it to have an impact…that’s what he reckons.”
Worst room-mate and why?
Ats: “Ben Mabon was funny to room with because he used to have a lot of weird habits. He would go through a cleansing phase where he had to wash his hair and thoroughly scrub himself in the shower. He also had to eat four tubs of Fruche the night before footy. He was pedantic.”
JMac: “I had to room with Basti in Utah. He’s terrible because he leaves everything to the last minute. If we had to be somewhere at 5.30, he’ll leave it until 5.29 to go. It frustrated the hell out of me because I’m the opposite. He would crack it at me when I would leave without him.”
What do you love/hate about playing away?
Ats: “I love the buffet. Not having to cook is pretty good. I hate the flight to Perth.”
JMac:“I hate that there’s so much downtime before night games. I like not having to worry about any mishaps…last week before I left for Ballarat I had my tyres slashed. That wasn’t the ideal start to the day.”
Best and worst interstate ground?
Ats: “I hate AAMI Stadium… at least we won’t have to play there again. Gold Coast is my favourite because it’s all pretty new, even though we have bad memories from last year.”
JMac: “Favourite would have to be Blundstone in Hobart. Least favourite would be AAMI.”
Who do you miss most when you play interstate?
Ats: “Karina and the Playstation are probably on par. She’s in Perth at the moment for a Uni course so we’ve both been away.”
JMac –“I miss my brother Tim. I’m kidding, it would be my girlfriend Ollie…it’s our five year anniversary today. I sent her a message before but I’ll ring her soon. I’ve got something special planned next weekend.”