How to play on one leg: Birchall

Hawthorn Grant Birchall in full flight working onto his penetrating left boot. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

GRANT Birchall is renowned for having one of most penetrating left-foot kicks in the AFL.

But the Hawthorn defender has been hiding a dark secret.

"I kick left, but absolutely everything else I do is right," Birchall said.

"I'm not sure where my left foot came from, to be honest.

"My dad played quite a bit of footy when he was younger, but he was a right-footer and a completely different player to what I am.

"So I'm not sure. I might just be one out of the box, I think."

Surely not everything else is done right-handed, such is his proficiency with the left foot.

"Everything," Birchall said.

"I played basketball as a kid and dribbled right-handed, shot right-handed. I play golf right-handed. In backyard cricket I bat and bowl right-handed.

"It's really bizarre. I don't know where the left peg came from, absolutely no idea."

The 25-year-old goes as far as to admit he never felt comfortable kicking with his right foot during his junior days and it still feels unnatural.

Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

It shows. Champion Data stats reveal Birchall had 277 kicks last season, but just three with his right foot.

It was similar in 2011: 327 kicks, four on his right.

Compare him with teammate Sam Mitchell - apparently a right-footer - who Champion Data says is the most balanced player in the AFL based on kicking foot.

Last year Mitchell kicked more times on his non-preferred foot - 125 of his 240 kicks were on his left foot (note: Champion Data says the stats don't include quick kicks out of the bottom of a pack).

Birchall said: "I'm more comfortable now obviously (on the right) because I've practised it a fair bit at training.

"But it's never come naturally. I'd always go left side, all the time.

"Until you practise it and get used to kicking on the opposite foot, it doesn't feel right."

Issues with his right foot aside, Birchall's left boot remains a lethal weapon in Hawthorn's attacking arsenal.

The half-back hits targets from 55m with consummate ease and his ability to kick a goal from outside the arc makes him a difficult opponent to mark.

So what's the secret? Leg weights?

"Not a lot of leg weights. It's just all come naturally, I think," Birchall said.

"I always used to kick the footy in the backyard. Every day when I came home from school, I'd go into the backyard and kick the footy around.

"I was always training and just continually kicking a footy, so that might be a reason why."

EVERY footballer has an idol growing up and Birchall was no different.

"I was a Saints supporter, so I just loved Robert Harvey," he said. "I just loved the way he went about it. I used to watch him all the time.

"I stayed up late for those Brownlow nights as a kid and was really excited to see whether he won it or not."

Harvey remains Birchall's idol, but the Hawk said he had never met the dual Brownlow medallist.

"He's got the same manager as I have, but I've never run in to him," he said.

"It would absolutely give me a buzz if I got to meet him. It'd bring back a lot of memories from when I was a kid. Most of my family are all pretty big fans of the Saints, so I'd love to meet him one day and have a chat."

Ironically, Birchall played a key role in Harvey's AFL farewell, picking up 23 disposals in the 2008 preliminary final win against St Kilda - Harvey's last game.

"But we cheered him off and that was pretty cool," he said.

Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

The next week Hawthorn defeated Geelong to win its first flag since 1991. Not surprisingly Birchall rates it as his most memorable career moment.

The Hawks have since failed to beat the Cats in nine consecutive outings.

Asked if a win against Geelong was a mental hurdle the Hawks needed to clear in order to win another flag, Birchall laughed.

"Maybe it'd be a bit of a mental release so that everyone can get off our backs," he said.

But he turned serious when talking about playing Chris Scott's men in Round 1.

"We always really look forward to playing against them, but they've just always, for some reason, found that little bit extra or that little bit of class or experience, whatever it might be, to get over the top of us," Birchall said.

"There's been a fair bit of talk about it obviously, and we've got them first-up this year.

"Hopefully we can get the job done against them. We're due."

Birchall said he had not been able to bring himself to watch a replay of last year's Grand Final loss to Sydney. The memories, he said, weren't pleasant.

In contrast, it is no surprise he has watched the DVD of the 2008 triumph several times.

Birchall said the plan this year was "absolutely" to add another Grand Final DVD to his collection, which places pressure on him and his club.

The pressure would have been there anyway on an individual level, given his 2012 season culminated in him making his first All-Australian team.

Birchall said it was a huge honour to be named alongside some of the greats of the modern game, but you sense the tag of "All-Australian" doesn't sit comfortably with him.

"I just want to be a good teammate and do my bit for the side," he said.

"I'm not really fussed about all the other stuff. If it comes, fantastic, but if it doesn't then it doesn't faze me at all."

Birchall acknowledged the pressures that came with the need to back up with an even better season.

"There's always pressure to perform," he said. "So I guess that's the challenge for me this year, to try and repeat and have an even better year than last year. I'm looking forward to that in a way, but there's always a little bit of pressure on everyone to perform each week or otherwise you're under the spotlight."

BIRCHALL is a happy Hawk. He signed a three-year deal last year tying him to the club until the end of the 2015 season.

But if he were born in another time, a time when a team from his native Tasmania played in the AFL, you get the feeling he would be tempted to leave.

"I'd absolutely love to see a Tassie side in the AFL," he said.

"I reckon it would be fantastic for the competition, but just to sustain it on the financial side of things would obviously be difficult."

The hypothetical debate in Tasmania is where a team would be based if it was to ever come to fruition.

Hobart is the capital, but Launceston has always been the state's AFL home, hosting Hawthorn several times a year for more than a decade and St Kilda in the early 2000s.

Given the links with the Hawks and the fact he was born and raised just outside the northern town of Devonport, Birchall is happy to nominate Launceston.

"I'm pretty comfortable with Aurora Stadium up north, so it'd be nice if it was based there," he said. "But I couldn't complain either way, I guess. If it just happened, it would be great for the competition.

"There's always that little bit of rivalry between the north and south. But I think, at the end of the day, if it did happen, everyone would get around it."

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