The Long way: The making of a Pies star after 17 clubs knocked him back

The Age

5 days ago

'I didn't look too closely at interstate [clubs]. I wanted to stay in Melbourne,' Long said.
'I was looking at a few VFL clubs, and I was hoping... I would have chatted to five or six.
'[I] was hoping and looking for an opportunity where I would be able to train with the AFL... and Collingwood offered a really good opportunity.'
Long's entreaties to the 17 clubs had not yielded so much as a 'maybe'.
'No, there was nothing,' he said.
The rejection hurt.
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'It was pretty rough. I feel like I'm a reasonably positive person and with a reasonable amount of belief in myself but, yeah, it's definitely a tough thing. You're asking for the littlest opportunity and you can't get it, and... I guess that's where it's important to be positive and focus on what you can control.'
Today, Long, 22, is among the best-performed in a team that sat atop the ladder heading into round 12. Last Saturday night, as an undermanned Collingwood overran North Melbourne, Long set a club record with 15 score involvements and became the first AFL player to have 15 involvements and 14 or more tackles in a game. His performance prompted Nathan Buckley to declare that Long would be a 10-year player.
Since round five, he ranks in the top three in a raft of Magpie metrics – disposals, handballs, contested ball, clearances, tackles, score assists and involvements. In short, he's killing it in his role as a self-described 'defensive-minded mid', whose primary task is to pressure, tackle and put that big frame in the thick of it.
'I try and bring that and also some contest work... try and get to contests and then that allows the rest of the game to flourish as well,' he said.
On Friday night, he will confront his old team, and close friend Josh Ward, with whom Long played at Fitzroy juniors (under 10s through to under 17s), then at the Northern Knights, Melbourne Grammar – Long having crossed from Northcote High on a scholarship in year 10 – and finally with Hawthorn and their VFL affiliate Box Hill.
Brett Munro, the AFL player agent, former assistant coach at Carlton and Gold Coast, and ex-head of Carlton's AFLW operation, coached Long and Ward – and his own son – at Fitzroy juniors in the under 14s and 15s.
'He was just the hardest worker,' said Munro, recalling that Long's foot skills weren't as polished as some elite players' – given a higher than ideal ball drop – but he was 'never beaten'.
'He's always been dynamic and, for a bigger kid, an unbelievable runner,' Munro added.
Long can cover two kilometres in about six minutes three or four seconds, which is quite imposing for a key position-sized player with a powerful build. He did not play key position in juniors or at school – having his major growth spurt at about 16.
Given those physical assets were evident to Hawthorn, what happened there?
Long says it was simply that the Hawks had excellent midfielders ahead of him in the pecking order: Will Day, Jai Newcombe, 198cm Irishman Conor Nash, James Worpel – not to ignore his mate Ward and early 2022 pick Cam Mackenzie.
'They had a lot of, I guess, my type of player – the bigger bodied, more contested midfielders, and they're all amazing players and had really strong years,' Long said.
'I did what I could from, I guess, a work ethic and improvement perspective. I didn't quite take my chances at AFL level. And then, just with how their list shaped up, they just didn't have space for another inside midfielder.'
Taken as a rookie in 2021's draft, Long's assessment of his Hawthorn time was that he was 'up and down' in year one (2022), improved in 2023 and was playing strongly in the VFL but others – the aforementioned first four midfielders, especially – were playing too well to dislodge.
'And so I came in and played a couple of games here or there, got a little bit of mid-time – not a heap – and wasn't able to take my chance there,' he said.
If kicking was a potential issue, this wasn't specified by coach Sam Mitchell. 'It was more the structure of the list but, obviously, there were areas of my game where I could get better.'
Long said he had no point to prove against the Hawks. 'I loved my time at Hawthorn and yeah, [I've] got nothing to prove. I'm happy at Collingwood and, yeah, I'll just try and win the game, that's the main thing I'm focusing on,' he said.
One could argue, as some within the competition do, that the Richmond-influenced teams – headed by Craig McRae's Magpies and Gold Coast – rely less upon kicking skills for many, since they deploy forward handball, and feed their designated better kicks, such as the Daicoses.
Long handballs more than he kicks – and doesn't mind dishing off to Nick Daicos. He says he has 'tidied up some weaknesses' but that the source of improvement was mainly mental. 'I think mental in terms of belief, inner confidence and I guess trusting my own game,' he said.
Long reckoned the chance to train with the senior list as a VFL player last year was 'crucial', as he improved his game in the second tier to the point that the Magpies selected him in the mid-season draft of 2024 at pick No.19.
As Collingwood had injuries and needed a large body in the clinches, Long played the last seven games of 2024 at senior level for the Pies, and all 11 so far this year.
Clearly, he's been another beneficiary – see Billy Frampton – from McRae's creed of focusing on what players can do, rather than what they cannot.
'I think it's something was encouraged, and I think it was encouraged at Hawthorn, but, yeah, Fly is massive on it – playing to your strengths and having belief in yourself,' Long said.
'He's really good at instilling that.'