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James Bartel's quick solution
13 March 2004 Herald Sun
By SCOTT GULLAN
IN NO particular order, James Bartel is sick of hearing that he's slow, not fit enough for the midfield, out of favour with the coach and lucky to still be at Geelong.
That was Bartel's 2003 in a nutshell.
"It might sound stupid," he said this week, "but it was sort of like when we hit the new year, last year was completely forgotten.
"I had to block everything out and just forget everything about it."
While Bartel wasn't the only young Cat whose star dimmed after a very impressive debut season in 2002, he seemed to be the one singled out by supporters and commentators as enemy No. 1.
"I knew myself I wasn't at my best but I didn't think I was that bad, but I was having people tell me how bad I was," he admits.
"It started to get to me and I started to doubt myself, (thinking) 'Was I really that bad?'.
"The first year there was no expectation, it was just playing footy. You just go out there, try and get a kick, try and learn a bit.
"The second year we weren't doing as well and I was getting too caught up in having to watch your man, do this, do that.
"I just lost all idea. I was too busy worrying about football instead of just playing."
The worst came in the middle part of the season. He was still struggling with a persistent ankle problem, the side was going terrible (2-8 after 10 rounds) and Bartel wasn't quite yesterday's man, but he certainly wasn't today's.
"I wasn't feeling fully fit, I wasn't spending much time on the ground and when I did get dropped, I got dropped on VFL byes," he said.
"It happened twice to me last year. I got dropped on VFL byes so I barely played any football.
"One of the times I had only played 10 minutes in the seniors, got dropped for the VFL bye and then the next week both teams had the bye so I ended up playing 10 minutes in three weeks.
"I couldn't take a trick."
It wasn't long before the inevitable trade talk began. With Geelong's desire to find a tall forward public knowledge and Bartel not re-signing mid-season like a number of his teammates, there wasn't a trade scenario going around without his name in it.
"I was the hot topic," he said. "I was getting phone calls from different mates, 'Are you going to the Bulldogs?', 'Are you going to the Eagles?'
"The papers had me at Melbourne, Sydney and then Carlton. It just got hilarious in the end but the whole time I was trying to work something out with Geelong."
After being a late inclusion for the Cats season-ending win over St Kilda, Bartel let his hair down and cleansed his soul. A trip to the snow with a few mates and then on to Brisbane to visit his older sister ensured he didn't have to watch or talk football.
It also gave him time to think.
"I decided I wanted to eliminate all excuses before we started," he said.
"I realised I wasn't playing much in the midfield because they were worried about my running so I thought, I'll just eliminate that."
Back home in Geelong, Bartel got himself a personal running coach in Steve Lewry, a regular in the distance races at the Stawell Gift carnival.
"He just whipped me, both on the fitness side and teaching me how to run," he said.
"Everyone loves to write up how slow I am and it was really starting to get to me. It is always a joke when the boys read it but he (Lewry) got me a lot of fitness and I think gave me a lot more confidence with my game."
Anxious to show his new wares when pre-season training began in October, Bartel's horror run continued when he came down with a bout of chickenpox.
"I had chickenpox at the age of 20 for the second time," he said. "Can you believe it? I was shattered."
When he was cleared to report in at Skilled Stadium a couple of weeks later he found a new freshness about the place which he, like a lot of others, desperately needed.
The introduction of two new assistant coaches, former Cat Ken Hinkley and recently retired Swan Daryn Cresswell, was the start of the second coming of James Bartel.
While he knew Hinkley because he'd coached his home team of Bell Park, it was the relationship with Cresswell, the new midfield coach, that has resulted in the new, improved Bartel on display during the Wizard Cup.
Cresswell had done his homework on the Cats midfield and identified Bartel and James Kelly as key figures.
"I'd seen a lot of him and Kelly and thought they were two real key players that you could really build your team around," Cresswell said.
"I was very impressed with his attack on the footy. He reminded me a lot of Jude Bolton, who I have got a lot of respect for."
The former champion Sydney midfielder sensed Bartel was still down on himself and went about drawing him "out of his shell".
"I just told him to back himself," Cresswell said.
"He's got natural ability, he got drafted (No. 8) for a reason, he showed he could play when he first burst onto the scene. I said that's the way I want you to play, I want you to back your own ability."
He warned critics not to fall for the "too slow" line with Bartel.
"He mightn't be as quick as some midfielders but I reckon he gets to the ball quicker than other midfielders," Cresswell said.
"He reads it better so he covers less ground and that's what makes him a special player."
Jimmy has performed well thus far into the pre-season, let's hope he can continue that good run of form and really turn it on this year.
13 March 2004 Herald Sun
By SCOTT GULLAN
IN NO particular order, James Bartel is sick of hearing that he's slow, not fit enough for the midfield, out of favour with the coach and lucky to still be at Geelong.
That was Bartel's 2003 in a nutshell.
"It might sound stupid," he said this week, "but it was sort of like when we hit the new year, last year was completely forgotten.
"I had to block everything out and just forget everything about it."
While Bartel wasn't the only young Cat whose star dimmed after a very impressive debut season in 2002, he seemed to be the one singled out by supporters and commentators as enemy No. 1.
"I knew myself I wasn't at my best but I didn't think I was that bad, but I was having people tell me how bad I was," he admits.
"It started to get to me and I started to doubt myself, (thinking) 'Was I really that bad?'.
"The first year there was no expectation, it was just playing footy. You just go out there, try and get a kick, try and learn a bit.
"The second year we weren't doing as well and I was getting too caught up in having to watch your man, do this, do that.
"I just lost all idea. I was too busy worrying about football instead of just playing."
The worst came in the middle part of the season. He was still struggling with a persistent ankle problem, the side was going terrible (2-8 after 10 rounds) and Bartel wasn't quite yesterday's man, but he certainly wasn't today's.
"I wasn't feeling fully fit, I wasn't spending much time on the ground and when I did get dropped, I got dropped on VFL byes," he said.
"It happened twice to me last year. I got dropped on VFL byes so I barely played any football.
"One of the times I had only played 10 minutes in the seniors, got dropped for the VFL bye and then the next week both teams had the bye so I ended up playing 10 minutes in three weeks.
"I couldn't take a trick."
It wasn't long before the inevitable trade talk began. With Geelong's desire to find a tall forward public knowledge and Bartel not re-signing mid-season like a number of his teammates, there wasn't a trade scenario going around without his name in it.
"I was the hot topic," he said. "I was getting phone calls from different mates, 'Are you going to the Bulldogs?', 'Are you going to the Eagles?'
"The papers had me at Melbourne, Sydney and then Carlton. It just got hilarious in the end but the whole time I was trying to work something out with Geelong."
After being a late inclusion for the Cats season-ending win over St Kilda, Bartel let his hair down and cleansed his soul. A trip to the snow with a few mates and then on to Brisbane to visit his older sister ensured he didn't have to watch or talk football.
It also gave him time to think.
"I decided I wanted to eliminate all excuses before we started," he said.
"I realised I wasn't playing much in the midfield because they were worried about my running so I thought, I'll just eliminate that."
Back home in Geelong, Bartel got himself a personal running coach in Steve Lewry, a regular in the distance races at the Stawell Gift carnival.
"He just whipped me, both on the fitness side and teaching me how to run," he said.
"Everyone loves to write up how slow I am and it was really starting to get to me. It is always a joke when the boys read it but he (Lewry) got me a lot of fitness and I think gave me a lot more confidence with my game."
Anxious to show his new wares when pre-season training began in October, Bartel's horror run continued when he came down with a bout of chickenpox.
"I had chickenpox at the age of 20 for the second time," he said. "Can you believe it? I was shattered."
When he was cleared to report in at Skilled Stadium a couple of weeks later he found a new freshness about the place which he, like a lot of others, desperately needed.
The introduction of two new assistant coaches, former Cat Ken Hinkley and recently retired Swan Daryn Cresswell, was the start of the second coming of James Bartel.
While he knew Hinkley because he'd coached his home team of Bell Park, it was the relationship with Cresswell, the new midfield coach, that has resulted in the new, improved Bartel on display during the Wizard Cup.
Cresswell had done his homework on the Cats midfield and identified Bartel and James Kelly as key figures.
"I'd seen a lot of him and Kelly and thought they were two real key players that you could really build your team around," Cresswell said.
"I was very impressed with his attack on the footy. He reminded me a lot of Jude Bolton, who I have got a lot of respect for."
The former champion Sydney midfielder sensed Bartel was still down on himself and went about drawing him "out of his shell".
"I just told him to back himself," Cresswell said.
"He's got natural ability, he got drafted (No. 8) for a reason, he showed he could play when he first burst onto the scene. I said that's the way I want you to play, I want you to back your own ability."
He warned critics not to fall for the "too slow" line with Bartel.
"He mightn't be as quick as some midfielders but I reckon he gets to the ball quicker than other midfielders," Cresswell said.
"He reads it better so he covers less ground and that's what makes him a special player."
Jimmy has performed well thus far into the pre-season, let's hope he can continue that good run of form and really turn it on this year.
