Live Event Q&A With Corey Wagner

[freo_dockers]

Corey, thanks for doing this mate, why do you think it's all clicked at your 3rd club? Were there things you werent doing at North and Melbourne you wish you had? Given Freo's success with Vossy and yourself, are there things we are doing better (from your experience) in getting more out of players?

Yeah I think it's down to definitely feeling valued here at Freo - even when I was playing at Peel I still felt like I was a part of the team. Knowing more of the boys better, I’ve felt more of a connection here too.

I probably got hung up on too many things at other clubs and stressed about little things. I really just try and play my role here, that’s why Freo picked me. They want me to run and create and do those sort of things so I've really tried to knuckle down on playing my role and playing to my strengths. Previously I got stuck on little things, like I would get 10 tackles and want to know why I wasn't staying in the side - I was a big overthinker.

 

[freo_dockers]

Hi Corey!

Just wondering if you can go a bit into the injury you sustained in the last round of '25 and the mental side of missing out on a final after contributing massively in helping the team get there.

Has it had an effect on you this preseason? Does it drive you even more for this coming season?

It was a pretty gross injury, I couldn’t lift my arm and it's definitely one of the most painful things I’ve had to deal with. Especially flying home the next day. I think I was an emergency in 2016 for a North Melbourne final too so I really just wanted to play that final last year. The fact we got into finals was awesome but it was definitely a bit of a bitter pill to swallow and I will be doing whatever I can to make sure we’re back there again this year. I'd love to get rid of that stat of not playing finals!

It's driven me in the recovery phase just to get back to what I was doing because I felt I had a really good spot in the team. I thought because of this injury things like 'will that affect my spot in the side' so I just have been driven to get back to 100%. In saying that, you want to win every game so you have got that motivation no matter what.

 

[freo_dockers]

Hi Corey,

Can you please give us some insight into the efforts Michaela put in behind the scenes to keep the home life going, supporting you to be the best athlete and footballer that you can be with training, recovery, travel etc making the life of a footballing dad unique?

Nice soft question. Yeah, nah, full credit to the girls.

She has sacrificed a lot to come over here to WA. We knew it was going to be a struggle the first year that we came over as she’s such a family person. It was a little bit hard for her. We try and get back to Melbourne as much as we can and the opposite way too in terms of getting family over to Perth to help.

We don’t have much family over here so she has taken the load on Remy and I try and do as much as I can to help her out but she really has sacrificed a lot. A lot of boys and our partners, you don’t realise how much they actually do for us and it’s such a selfish industry for us, so we always try and re-pay that. Particularly in the off-season!

 

[freo_dockers]

First of all, congratulations to you and Michaela on baby wags #2!
We saw you play some pretty varied roles last year - have you continued training as a tagger and do you expect that to be a big role for you this season?
And who are some of the guys who get everyone energised and pumped at training?

Thank you! Yeah I do like moving around – back to an earlier question - I am an overthinker so it helps me when I am moving around in different positions. It keeps me involved.

The tagging role is not really trained, you don’t really train those sort of roles too much you just see how they play out on gameday. But I’ve trained a bit of everywhere over the pre-season so all options are open!

 

[freo_dockers]

Can I ask 2 questions:
1. We have seen you play pretty much everywhere for Freo, do you have a favourite if you had a choice?
2. If you are being set for a specific player to tag how much research during the week would you generally do? Are we talking less than an hour or many hours?
Thanks Corey, love your work

Halfback feels like home but with this pre-season and how quick the ball has been moving I’ve loved playing all over. I just want to be on the field to be honest!

I sort of don’t like to overcomplicate things too much, I don’t want to worry too much out on the field. You definitely watch vision and watch how a player has been tagged before. But it’s more about starting positions and seeing where they like to run and use their strengths etc.

 

[freo_dockers]

I'll go with a couple broader questions focused on the parts of AFL outside of the bright lights.

Who in the club do you have the most interaction with on a day to day basis during the week? What parts of everyday AFL club life do you enjoy the most outside of gameday; team meetings, gym sessions, match sim, something else?

How do you approach your pre-game prep? Do you personally have a set routine and do you try and achieve a focused environment, or do you look for distractions?

I love the mornings - coffee and pre-training ping-pong in the mornings with the boys is really fun. Coffee at lunchtime with Jaeger and Swag is a usual thing which is always good. With my locker at #34 I also spend a lot of time with Josh Treacy next to me at #35.

In the mids line I spend a lot of time with Jaeger and we talk a lot about dad life. We’re in very similar phases of life so we like to share with each other how we’re going. Things like sharing how the night before was with sleep or even just little tips we give each other so I really love that.

Having kids has helped with my connection to JOM big time. He’s such a professional in the way he goes about things, so it’s an awesome relationship to have.

 

[freo_dockers]

Hi Corey

I appreciate you taking time out to answer questions from the supporters.

Which clubs do you see as Freo's hardest match ups this season and why? And how does the Freo coaching group instill confidence and hunger amongst the players to push for top 4 each season?

We saw some footy over Opening Round and it looks like Gold Coast will be a strong side. You can see how hard some of these clubs train and how hard they run. I think contest is going to be a big thing this year as well and how teams build their game off of it.

Brisbane are always tough of course and have just gone back to back but I also really like Sydney and how tough and hard they play so they should be up there again this year. I love playing SCG too!

 

[freo_dockers]

Hi Corey,

Thanks for doing this!

Just want to say fans love having you in the team.

Could you tell us about some of the different strengths of the assistant coaches from a players perspective, especially around game day or game day prep?

And if you had to pick one or two things as a team, could you finish: we play well when we..

Thanks Brett for facilitating this and Joe’s interview, hope we can do this sort of thing every year!

All three are very different people. Smithy (Joel Corey) is quiet and conversative and he tells you things direct. Twig (Jade Rawlings) is a loose and funny character but also tells you straight. He also has this really good vibe and connection with the group. JG (Jaymie Graham) is a fun guy and is so great to chat to about ball movement and get ideas from. Luckily I’ve had experience from all three of them as I move across lines which is great.

We play well when we are organised. If you watch us and we’re all pointing and communicating at stoppage then it means we’re connecting and it’s a good sign.

 

[freo_dockers]

Hi Corey!
First of all, I just want to say you're my partners favourite player (I think that's more based off your good looks though!), so thank you for getting her on board with coming to the games!!

Since moving to Freo, what's one thing this city/state has that you think could be a really big selling point for east coast players moving forward? Obviously Perth is now your home, so what are some things that really make you love it so much?

Cheers mate!

Haha thank you! Say hi to your partner for me.

The lifestyle is the best part. What’s the opposite word to chaos? Probably the calmness and chill of Perth is what I love most. The easy-going lifestyle and everything is so easy to get around to. We’re a big beach family so we love getting to the beach.

The bars, restaurants and foodery’s probably also don’t get spoken about enough – and Freo is such a great part of town. If you’re over east and just want to get away from the chaos then come to WA!

 

[freo_dockers]

Hey Wags, Thanks for stopping by to answer questions. I'm one of the few yankees on the board, so I always like to add some US flavor to my questions. I'll let the Aussies ask the relevant, footy related questions. lol.

1. Do you watch any American sports? If so, do you have any teams you support?
2. If you had to play one of the big four professionally (baseball, American football, hockey, or basketball) what would it be, why, and what position would you like to play?

Best of luck this season! I hope you have another strong year! Go Freo!

1. No I don’t but I watch Bob Does Sports on YouTube!

YouTube golf is good. The ‘Break 50’ videos with Bryson DeChambeau I absolutely froth.

2. Baseball is sick, I’d play that.

 

[freo_dockers]

That's all we've got time for with Wags on this Q&A! Leaving him to chill out and rest up for the remainder of his flight.

Thanks so much for all of your questions, Wags enjoyed doing it

Now let's get the W on Saturday.

- Brett

 

[King Huskii]

We saw some footy over Opening Round and it looks like Gold Coast will be a strong side. You can see how hard some of these clubs train and how hard they run. I think contest is going to be a big thing this year as well and how teams build their game off of it.

Brisbane are always tough of course and have just gone back to back but I also really like Sydney and how tough and hard they play so they should be up there again this year. I love playing SCG too!

Thank you for the response

 

[Tonga Bob]

Thank you so much for your time and effort in answering our questions Corey (even though you couldn't get away from Brett while on the plane!). It was great to get your thoughts as both a player and as a person, your passion for the club and your family really shone through! You have a group of fans in this corner of the internet wishing all the good things for you, and I'm sure you're gonna have an absolute blinder in that long-overdue finals match!!! You are now officially a Friend of the BigFootyFreo board!

And Brett at the risk of repeating myself none of this would have happened if not for you! We are grateful beyond words for everything you do for the club, and I'm definitely holding you to doing your own Q&A on here at some point!

Have a great trip fellas and do us bloody proud!!!!

 

[Taylor]

Great access for the fans

 

[FreoGirl]

I am sad I missed this. I love seeing Corey with his young family and am excited to see them showing their little guy so much of the world. He looks like such a beautiful child!

 

[jerms]

Brett, echoing Tonga Bob and the rest, please pass on our thanks to Wags, both for agreeing to do this, and moreso for such open and forthright responses. I feel like in footy - and professional sport more broadly - there's often an instinct among media teams to sanitise, tow the 'party line' and keep individual opinion and expression a bit cloistered. And I totally get the reasons why, but this wasn't that (so big credit to you on this too), and the insights that flow from this kind of openness are really appreciated.

 

[Seppo]

Well done all involved in putting this together!

 

[Tbonefreo]

Wags is a ripper. So glad hes part of the gang

 

[SPEEDWAGON]

Enjoyed this … wags one of my favs to see someone given another chance and really thrive is enjoyable