The Coon Dog
16 Jun 2007, 08:23
Gilbee wild at heart (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21911699%255E19742,00.html)
The Herald Sun - 16 June
FOR someone who makes a living out of being clean and clinical, Lindsay Gilbee is surprisingly comfortable getting low down and dirty in the hills out the back of Coldstream.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,5527982,00.jpg
Wild at heart: Lindsay Gilbee.
Gilbee grew up in the Yarra Valley and still likes nothing better than visiting a close mate's property in Gruyere.
Hitting moving targets in the AFL comes naturally. Doing it at night with a rifle in hand can sometimes be more challenging.
"I do a bit of shooting and stuff . . . rabbits, foxes . . . anything that moves," Gilbee said, jokingly.
"I don't think the coach knows, to be honest, but it's totally safe. It's certainly something I enjoy."
Gilbee made his most recent expedition to Gruyere - 50km east of the city - a few weeks back. Emerging star Ryan Griffen went along for the ride.
"Griff was going through a bit of a flat patch. He misses the country and that kind of lifestyle and going out for a shot," Gilbee said.
"He really enjoyed it. He's a good shot. I tell you what, he doesn't miss.
"I always like to take people out there. I could sit in front of a bonfire for hours."
Gilbee - All-Australian last year and an unlucky omission in 2005 - is now a genuine star. Yet he still likes "bumming" around in tracksuit pants, despite his newfound fame and vastly improved pay packet.
Much of that has to do with the Bulldog's time growing up in a humble Coldstream house just 50m from the local footy ground.
"I remember even sleeping on the clubroom floors. Dad would have a few big Saturday nights down at the club after games," Gilbee said.
His parents still live there and work in the same Bayswater packaging company. His dad Lawrie drives a delivery van and his mum Maureen is in the factory.
"They're happy. They've got their little house on the estate. That's where I was brought up and they'll die there. They're still in the same house Dad built," he said.
Gilbee has two older brothers Gavin, 35, and Shaun, 34.
"Then there's me, the mistake who's now 25," Gilbee said.
"It must have been a back-seat job or they were maybe hoping for a girl, so they named me Lindsay."
The Gilbee boys all racked up senior games at Coldstream.
"Dad played up until he was about 40," Gilbee said.
"He said he was good. He was apparently renowned for his kicking. Maybe that's where I get a bit of it. My brothers were pretty good kicks. The genes are maybe in the family."
There's obviously something in it. Gilbee has made an artform of making sweet contact with the Sherrin.
For both distance and accuracy, he has few peers. No one has had more effective kicks in the competition than Gilbee since the start of 2005.
And he has consistently been the competition's most lethal kick-in exponent. Gilbee is so precise and probing, he can cut teams down the middle like a master surgeon.
While he is rarely mentioned in the league's elite and others tend to get more media focus at the Bulldogs, Gilbee is very much the club's barometer.
He has had three down games from 11 this year - against Adelaide, St Kilda and Carlton. The Dogs lost all of them.
Teams woke up to his talents back in the middle of 2005, throwing a "defensive forward" his way.
Now Gilbee, so often the first link in the chain for Bulldogs goals, has had to live with being dragged back to the goalsquare.
"Whoever I go to, they're trying to take me back," Gilbee said.
"It's something I've got to adapt to and it's something I've still got to get better at.
"Obviously it's not a natural part of your game. You want to get out there, run around and do what we did as kids . . . just kick the footy.
"But it doesn't bother me if I don't get a kick as long as we win."
Gilbee managed to shake the leash at the Gabba last Saturday, finishing best on ground against the Brisbane Lions. It's safe to say the appraisal by coach Rodney Eade was more positive than when Gilbee went through one of his rare downers.
"When you don't have the best of games, you virtually know what you're going to get," Gilbee said.
"That's part and parcel of AFL footy. It's a brutal sport and a tough sport, and you've got to take the good with the bad. He (Eade) certainly tells you what he thinks. It doesn't matter who you are, which is great."
Before Eade arrived at the end of 2004, Gilbee had made up his mind it was time to leave.
"I requested a trade to Sydney," Gilbee said.
During Peter Rohde's reign, Gilbee became increasingly frustrated by a lack of opportunities at senior level.
At times, Gilbee wondered if it was worth it. He goes as far as saying his career may have fizzled out if Rohan Smith had not taken him in to the family home for a year.
"What Rohan did for my life, opening his doors for me, will not be forgotten," Gilbee said.
"I think I was teetering on the edge of, 'Did I really want to play football any more?'. It was pretty frustrating not getting a game when sometimes I believe I should have.
"A bit of the onus was on me. Looking back on it now, I probably didn't cover all bases as well."
With Richmond also showing an interest after Rohde's departure, Eade acted swiftly after his appointment and told Gilbee he was going nowhere.
Gilbee has not been out of the senior team since, blossoming on and off the field.
"I've signed up until 2010. I signed a two-year extension before the season started," Gilbee said.
"I'm so happy with this footy club. I wouldn't change it for the world."
At the moment, Gilbee shares a house with Rising Star nominee Shaun Higgins, not too far from Whitten Oval.
When his career ends, home will be much further away from the bustle of the western suburbs.
Gilbee dreams of securing some land beyond Coldstream on the eastern fringe of the city.
"Yarra Glen, I'd like. Hopefully in six to eight years I'll have enough behind me to do it," Gilbee said.
"I'd hope to have a wife and kids by then, that would be in the plans.
"I wouldn't say I'm a hillbilly, but I'd love to have a bit of land. Maybe some cows to keep the grass down."
The Herald Sun - 16 June
FOR someone who makes a living out of being clean and clinical, Lindsay Gilbee is surprisingly comfortable getting low down and dirty in the hills out the back of Coldstream.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,5527982,00.jpg
Wild at heart: Lindsay Gilbee.
Gilbee grew up in the Yarra Valley and still likes nothing better than visiting a close mate's property in Gruyere.
Hitting moving targets in the AFL comes naturally. Doing it at night with a rifle in hand can sometimes be more challenging.
"I do a bit of shooting and stuff . . . rabbits, foxes . . . anything that moves," Gilbee said, jokingly.
"I don't think the coach knows, to be honest, but it's totally safe. It's certainly something I enjoy."
Gilbee made his most recent expedition to Gruyere - 50km east of the city - a few weeks back. Emerging star Ryan Griffen went along for the ride.
"Griff was going through a bit of a flat patch. He misses the country and that kind of lifestyle and going out for a shot," Gilbee said.
"He really enjoyed it. He's a good shot. I tell you what, he doesn't miss.
"I always like to take people out there. I could sit in front of a bonfire for hours."
Gilbee - All-Australian last year and an unlucky omission in 2005 - is now a genuine star. Yet he still likes "bumming" around in tracksuit pants, despite his newfound fame and vastly improved pay packet.
Much of that has to do with the Bulldog's time growing up in a humble Coldstream house just 50m from the local footy ground.
"I remember even sleeping on the clubroom floors. Dad would have a few big Saturday nights down at the club after games," Gilbee said.
His parents still live there and work in the same Bayswater packaging company. His dad Lawrie drives a delivery van and his mum Maureen is in the factory.
"They're happy. They've got their little house on the estate. That's where I was brought up and they'll die there. They're still in the same house Dad built," he said.
Gilbee has two older brothers Gavin, 35, and Shaun, 34.
"Then there's me, the mistake who's now 25," Gilbee said.
"It must have been a back-seat job or they were maybe hoping for a girl, so they named me Lindsay."
The Gilbee boys all racked up senior games at Coldstream.
"Dad played up until he was about 40," Gilbee said.
"He said he was good. He was apparently renowned for his kicking. Maybe that's where I get a bit of it. My brothers were pretty good kicks. The genes are maybe in the family."
There's obviously something in it. Gilbee has made an artform of making sweet contact with the Sherrin.
For both distance and accuracy, he has few peers. No one has had more effective kicks in the competition than Gilbee since the start of 2005.
And he has consistently been the competition's most lethal kick-in exponent. Gilbee is so precise and probing, he can cut teams down the middle like a master surgeon.
While he is rarely mentioned in the league's elite and others tend to get more media focus at the Bulldogs, Gilbee is very much the club's barometer.
He has had three down games from 11 this year - against Adelaide, St Kilda and Carlton. The Dogs lost all of them.
Teams woke up to his talents back in the middle of 2005, throwing a "defensive forward" his way.
Now Gilbee, so often the first link in the chain for Bulldogs goals, has had to live with being dragged back to the goalsquare.
"Whoever I go to, they're trying to take me back," Gilbee said.
"It's something I've got to adapt to and it's something I've still got to get better at.
"Obviously it's not a natural part of your game. You want to get out there, run around and do what we did as kids . . . just kick the footy.
"But it doesn't bother me if I don't get a kick as long as we win."
Gilbee managed to shake the leash at the Gabba last Saturday, finishing best on ground against the Brisbane Lions. It's safe to say the appraisal by coach Rodney Eade was more positive than when Gilbee went through one of his rare downers.
"When you don't have the best of games, you virtually know what you're going to get," Gilbee said.
"That's part and parcel of AFL footy. It's a brutal sport and a tough sport, and you've got to take the good with the bad. He (Eade) certainly tells you what he thinks. It doesn't matter who you are, which is great."
Before Eade arrived at the end of 2004, Gilbee had made up his mind it was time to leave.
"I requested a trade to Sydney," Gilbee said.
During Peter Rohde's reign, Gilbee became increasingly frustrated by a lack of opportunities at senior level.
At times, Gilbee wondered if it was worth it. He goes as far as saying his career may have fizzled out if Rohan Smith had not taken him in to the family home for a year.
"What Rohan did for my life, opening his doors for me, will not be forgotten," Gilbee said.
"I think I was teetering on the edge of, 'Did I really want to play football any more?'. It was pretty frustrating not getting a game when sometimes I believe I should have.
"A bit of the onus was on me. Looking back on it now, I probably didn't cover all bases as well."
With Richmond also showing an interest after Rohde's departure, Eade acted swiftly after his appointment and told Gilbee he was going nowhere.
Gilbee has not been out of the senior team since, blossoming on and off the field.
"I've signed up until 2010. I signed a two-year extension before the season started," Gilbee said.
"I'm so happy with this footy club. I wouldn't change it for the world."
At the moment, Gilbee shares a house with Rising Star nominee Shaun Higgins, not too far from Whitten Oval.
When his career ends, home will be much further away from the bustle of the western suburbs.
Gilbee dreams of securing some land beyond Coldstream on the eastern fringe of the city.
"Yarra Glen, I'd like. Hopefully in six to eight years I'll have enough behind me to do it," Gilbee said.
"I'd hope to have a wife and kids by then, that would be in the plans.
"I wouldn't say I'm a hillbilly, but I'd love to have a bit of land. Maybe some cows to keep the grass down."