Ivan Maric quickly developed cult hero status in his first year at Richmond. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun
IVAN Maric stood at the microphone.
The rugged ruckman had just finished third in his first Jack Dyer Medal count when he delivered the words that make football fans melt.
"The way the playing group has welcomed me to this football club has made me feel like I was always meant to come here and wear this jumper," Maric told the Richmond faithful at Crown Palladium.
It was the humble full-stop to a remarkable debut season in yellow and black. A season that silenced critics, shocked supporters and surprised even Maric.
As the plaudits flowed throughout the year and the mullet-inspired cult following grew to epic proportions, the softly spoken big man remained largely silent.
Just over 12 months since he walked in the door at Punt Rd, Maric offered the Herald Sun a candid insight into the most remarkable year of his football life.
The former Adelaide ruckman was traded by the Crows to the Tigers for pick 37 in the 2011 draft after playing only six games in 2011. It wasn't the sort of form that screamed blossoming talent.
And Maric admitted 2012 started in a cloud of doubt.
"When I was training all through pre-season I was fighting demons," he said.
"Always that thought would pop into my head; 'Was I good enough?' and I questioned myself. But I suppose that happens to every player. It was just a matter of persisting.
"I didn't know how it was going to turn out, but when I met with (Richmond coach) Damien (Hardwick), I'm not sure what it was, but something about it felt right, like it was the right move and we established a connection straight away.
"You have to believe in your ability and I think that's really important if you want to achieve anything. For me, I got a lot of enjoyment out of last season, playing the way I played because that's how I want to play footy."
Maric has the great characteristic that endears players to supporters. He plays with heart.
You can't really market me like other players in the competition, like a Lance Franklin or something like that.
The 26-year-old will never be a ruckman blessed with freakish athletic talents. But what the Tigers got in exchange for that late 30s draft pick was a player with truckloads of desire and one who thrives on hard work and a team-first environment.
"You can't really market me like other players in the competition, like a Lance Franklin or something like that," Maric said with a laugh.
"I'm just what you see is what you get. I love that mateship and the strong bonds you build with teammates through the hard work that you do."
Richmond assistant coach and Port Adelaide premiership ruckman Brendon Lade said Maric just needed a chance.
"Ruckmen take a little bit longer to develop as everyone knows and most of them just need an opportunity to play and to have a crack at being the No.1 ruck," Lade said.
"We thought if we gave him an opportunity he could flourish and he was almost an All-Australian because of it. He's had a big impact, especially on the midfield group."
Richmond last season won a centre bounce clearance 47.5 per cent of the time Maric was involved - ranked No.1 of the top-10 centre bounce ruckmen in the AFL. He made the All-Australian squad of 40 and, according to some, was stiff not to make the final 22.
The wrecking ball to Richmond's silk-laden midfield was quickly elevated to cult hero status - complete with mullet mania.
It's difficult to recall a traded player so immediately loved and respected by the Tiger army.
Maric sheepishly admits the hype was "big", but it's clear he's uncomfortable.
"I suppose that attention, I don't really like it," he said.
"I like and appreciate people recognising that I was playing my role and that's a good part of it.
"But I just really wanted to stay focused on what I needed to do each week and that was to play well. I didn't want to get caught up in everything that was happening.
"You can't control how people see you and who they like and dislike and things like that. I really wanted to make sure I was getting all my positive feedback from my coaches and teammates and not so much from the TV and the newspapers and stuff like that."
Ivan Maric is tackled by Essendon's Tom Bellchambers. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun
So positive was the feedback from his colleagues that Maric was voted into the club's six-man leadership group during last week's pre-season camp in Cairns.
In typical Maric style, he's not likely to get carried away by the honour.
"I just want to make sure it doesn't change anything about me or how I go about it in regards to training and setting standards around the footy club," he said.
"They voted me in for how I acted last season so I don't want to change that. I want to keep improving and building relationships with the guys and supporting the other leaders."
Maric has made a slower start to the pre-season than he would like, after he was bothered by soft-tissue problems towards the end of last season.
"I'm feeling good. I'm just taking a bit longer to ease into training because I was really battling towards the end of the year with my groin," he said.
"So I'm just really trying to strengthen everything up so these problems don't happen. I didn't have an operation, it was more rest and rehabilitation."
Ivan Maric kicks a goal against Hawthorn. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun
Lade said the club would give Maric all the time he needed to get right.
"We're not going to push him at all. We pushed him last year to play some games when we probably should have rested him and with (Tyrone) Vickery going down that hurt Ivan more than anyone," Lade said.
"He gets a bit worried that he's not training and not doing what he needs to get his body right, but we know he works hard and when he does get back into training he'll be up and going."
And when he is, Maric will set about building a better understanding with Richmond's growing band of influential onballers, something he admitted has proven more difficult than at Adelaide.
"It's been a bit harder only because of the fact that we've got so many good midfielders.
"At Adelaide 'Thommo' (Scott Thompson) was the really dominant midfielder and he wanted the ball all the time and you'd build that relationship really quickly and you've seen that with Sam Jacobs and Scott who've done that really well," he said.
"Shane Tuck, Trent Cotchin and Brett Deledio are probably the one's I've got the best understanding with. I spend the most time with those guys.
"But it's really funny, Reece Conca will come in for five minutes here and there and I'll have a good understanding with him and Shane Edwards as well and he's hardly ever in there.
"I don't know, I suppose it goes back to how they are as a playing group and how welcoming they are - they really make you feel comfortable. I think that reflects on the field in the relationships around the stoppages. I believe that's really important."
Maric recently returned with teammates from the Cairns camp firm in the belief that the foundations are in place at Punt Rd to finally take that next step - finals.
I just don't want to be part of a group that didn't achieve anything or didn't have finals success.
But he doesn't want to tempt fate, and for a player who has only been a Tiger for a year, he's grown tired of talk about September droughts and crushed expectations.
"Look, we've got the players, we've got the talent, we've got a few more mature recruits in Chris Knights, Troy Chaplin and Aaron Edwards and that's really strengthened our list," Maric said.
"We've got it, but it's all about doing it now and just putting our heads down, training hard and wanting it.
"And it's about doing it on game day. I've only been here 12 months and I'm sick of hearing how every year it's the same thing.
"I just don't want to be part of a group that didn't achieve anything or didn't have finals success."
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