Milestone man Callum Ah Chee has found his ‘real niche' at the Brisbane Lions
Milestone man Callum Ah Chee doesn't doubt himself anymore – and with good reason after kicking four goals in an AFL grand final, contending for the Norm Smith Medal and winning a top-flight premiership.
Ahead of his 150th AFL appearance in Brisbane's clash against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Saturday, the popular Lion admits that early in his career, he was weighed down by the burden of being chosen at number eight in the 2015 national draft by the Gold Coast Suns.
'I probably put a lot of pressure on myself to perform and show people why I got drafted so high, and that didn't help,' Ah Chee said.
However, the didn't stop the Lions taking a chance on the Perth product by bringing him to the club ahead of the 2020 season despite making just one AFL appearance in 2019 for the Suns.
'I'm six years in at the Lions, and loved my time here, and hopefully I can play a few more games,' Ah Chee said.
'I feel really at home now at the Lions, I understand the game plan really well, understand how my teammates like to play the game, and that's definitely helped.'
That was obvious at the business end of last season, including Brisbane's 60-point grand final thrashing of Sydney, with Ah Chee's four goals part of a performance that resulted in him finishing third in the Norm Smith Medal voting for best-on-ground behind runner-up Lachie Neale and winner Will Ashcroft.
'I've got a lot of belief in myself, especially from that finals campaign last year, and knowing that I can stand up in some big moments,' Ah Chee said.
'That's given me a lot of confidence coming into this year, and I feel like when I have pressure on me, I'm able just to think my way through it a little bit more and just go out and play footy.
'I feel like I'm playing my most instinctive footy now, and just going out and having fun and realising the opportunity I have.'
Lions coach Chris Fagan said 27-year-old Ah Chee had gone from being a 'Mr Fix It' to finding his 'teal niche' and 'real influence' in Brisbane's team as a forward.
'His capacity to keep opposition defenders in check, and to also be able to score while creating opportunities for others has been fantastic,' Fagan said.
'It's a pretty hard-earned 150 games. His career hasn't always been straight-forward, but his last 12 or so months with us have been fantastic.
'Hopefully we can play well for his big moment.'
The Lions are intent on bouncing back from their first loss of the season after being beaten by 52 points last Thursday by Collingwood.
Ah Chee was confident the Lions would respond to the defeat.
'We trained the house down over the last few days. We've got a few things that we needed to work on internally, and feel like we've addressed those,' he said.
'We expect (St Kilda's) best. They're going to come out firing, so we're looking at throwing the first punch, and hopefully come away with the chocolates.'
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