bornadog
13-02-2019, 05:46 PM
Link (https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/why-2018-was-the-biggest-year-in-western-bulldogs-star-mitch-wallis-life-in-more-ways-than-you-think/news-story/a17d43061a4ec7447c1ac351469129aa)
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/eadf4cd075f9bf8ff50676dd29b50803
Luke Beveridge had just got off a flight in September when Mitch Wallis’ number flashed up on his phone. It was the phone call the Western Bulldogs’ coach had been waiting for. Although he didn’t know if it was going to be the answer he wanted to hear.
After returning from a horrifically broken leg midway through 2017, which caused him to watch the fairy tale premiership in 2016 from the wrong side of the fence, Wallis endured another tough year in 2018. This time it centred around where he was going to ply his trade in 2019 and beyond.
Brisbane and Essendon were keen, very keen. They offered longer deals and bigger dollars. But in the end, the midfielder who was born with red, white and blue blood coursing through his veins, recommitted to the club he has supported since the moment he was born for a further three years.
Before the 26-year-old came to that decision, he spent a weekend away with his old man, former Footscray captain Steve Wallis, on the family farm in Tallarook where he finally realised he had made his mind up on the drove home. And that’s when he dialled Beveridge’s number.
“To be honest, we didn’t speak too much about footy. A lot had gone on in the season and we went for a two-day getaway just the two of us. I’m not sure what we were even going there to talk about, but on the car ride home I turned to him and said: I want to stay. And I think that was the turning point,” Wallis told foxsports.com.au.
“I had to ring ‘Bevo’ right there and then. It was a weight off my chest, although I didn’t realise that until then. He was at the airport and he didn’t know what I was ringing for. He was coming back from a holiday and it was a really special moment. My dad was sitting next to me in the car, so it was great to share it with him, too.
“Bevo was the first person I rang and I think I owed that to him because he backed me in. There was a little bit of pride in making sure he was the first person to know outside my wife and my parents and my family that I was going to stay at the Dogs.”
Nearly five months on from the moment that ended all the speculation around his future, Wallis admits he nearly packed up his life at the kennel and started afresh somewhere else.
But after thinking long and hard, the man who wears the No. 3 jumper made famous by Ted Whitten, Arthur Oliver and Chris Grant is thrilled he didn’t pick leave.
“You have to say I was close (to playing for another club), because you don’t half-heartedly explore a contract somewhere else. If you are exploring then there is part of the make up in your head that you could play somewhere else,” he said.
“I went and spoke to other clubs and it grew my confidence that people want you and you have a future in the game.
“But I love this club, and having lived the last three or four months, where I’ve been put in the leadership group, training well and having a good pre-season, I’m so glad with the decision I made. But all the elements before it made it a good decision.
“Although that period was probably the hardest, it was when I did the most of my learning. I stood back and started to think about my life and not just my footy. I had a real clear direction on where I wanted to go. And that was with the Dogs.”
Football isn’t the only passion Wallis shares with his old man. They both studied the same course at the same university — a Bachelor of Business majoring in Accounting at Victoria University — graduating 28 years apart.
When Mitch donned the cap and gown in December it marked the end of eight years at university. He took a semester longer than Steve to finish the degree, much to the dismay of the younger Wallis, and he still has plenty of catching up to do away from football, given the phenomenal success his dad has had in the car business.
“Up until I graduated, I didn’t understand the significance of me and him doing that. Doing it together; doing it at the same uni; having some of the same teachers. So there is a great story behind it,” he said.
“It is hard being a full-time footballer and studying; I don’t know too many players that will say it is easy to do.
“There is a photo of dad at VU that I used to walk past so it kind of feels like we are following the same path a little bit, and I’ve got massive interest in business and life outside of footy. Dad is a great example of someone who had a career outside of footy and he has been a really successful businessman.”
While inking a new deal and completing university were two major moments in a life changing 2018, they weren’t the biggest thing that happened to Wallis last year.
He married long-time partner Emily Clemmens in Sorrento a couple of days before Christmas, with Western Bulldogs teammate Tom Boyd and former teammate Koby Stevens two of his groomsmen, alongside his younger brother and his best mate from St Kevin’s College.
With a new contract, both at the club and at home, Wallis looms as one of the Western Bulldogs’ most important players in 2019.
And after the past two years, they need him more than ever.
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/eadf4cd075f9bf8ff50676dd29b50803
Luke Beveridge had just got off a flight in September when Mitch Wallis’ number flashed up on his phone. It was the phone call the Western Bulldogs’ coach had been waiting for. Although he didn’t know if it was going to be the answer he wanted to hear.
After returning from a horrifically broken leg midway through 2017, which caused him to watch the fairy tale premiership in 2016 from the wrong side of the fence, Wallis endured another tough year in 2018. This time it centred around where he was going to ply his trade in 2019 and beyond.
Brisbane and Essendon were keen, very keen. They offered longer deals and bigger dollars. But in the end, the midfielder who was born with red, white and blue blood coursing through his veins, recommitted to the club he has supported since the moment he was born for a further three years.
Before the 26-year-old came to that decision, he spent a weekend away with his old man, former Footscray captain Steve Wallis, on the family farm in Tallarook where he finally realised he had made his mind up on the drove home. And that’s when he dialled Beveridge’s number.
“To be honest, we didn’t speak too much about footy. A lot had gone on in the season and we went for a two-day getaway just the two of us. I’m not sure what we were even going there to talk about, but on the car ride home I turned to him and said: I want to stay. And I think that was the turning point,” Wallis told foxsports.com.au.
“I had to ring ‘Bevo’ right there and then. It was a weight off my chest, although I didn’t realise that until then. He was at the airport and he didn’t know what I was ringing for. He was coming back from a holiday and it was a really special moment. My dad was sitting next to me in the car, so it was great to share it with him, too.
“Bevo was the first person I rang and I think I owed that to him because he backed me in. There was a little bit of pride in making sure he was the first person to know outside my wife and my parents and my family that I was going to stay at the Dogs.”
Nearly five months on from the moment that ended all the speculation around his future, Wallis admits he nearly packed up his life at the kennel and started afresh somewhere else.
But after thinking long and hard, the man who wears the No. 3 jumper made famous by Ted Whitten, Arthur Oliver and Chris Grant is thrilled he didn’t pick leave.
“You have to say I was close (to playing for another club), because you don’t half-heartedly explore a contract somewhere else. If you are exploring then there is part of the make up in your head that you could play somewhere else,” he said.
“I went and spoke to other clubs and it grew my confidence that people want you and you have a future in the game.
“But I love this club, and having lived the last three or four months, where I’ve been put in the leadership group, training well and having a good pre-season, I’m so glad with the decision I made. But all the elements before it made it a good decision.
“Although that period was probably the hardest, it was when I did the most of my learning. I stood back and started to think about my life and not just my footy. I had a real clear direction on where I wanted to go. And that was with the Dogs.”
Football isn’t the only passion Wallis shares with his old man. They both studied the same course at the same university — a Bachelor of Business majoring in Accounting at Victoria University — graduating 28 years apart.
When Mitch donned the cap and gown in December it marked the end of eight years at university. He took a semester longer than Steve to finish the degree, much to the dismay of the younger Wallis, and he still has plenty of catching up to do away from football, given the phenomenal success his dad has had in the car business.
“Up until I graduated, I didn’t understand the significance of me and him doing that. Doing it together; doing it at the same uni; having some of the same teachers. So there is a great story behind it,” he said.
“It is hard being a full-time footballer and studying; I don’t know too many players that will say it is easy to do.
“There is a photo of dad at VU that I used to walk past so it kind of feels like we are following the same path a little bit, and I’ve got massive interest in business and life outside of footy. Dad is a great example of someone who had a career outside of footy and he has been a really successful businessman.”
While inking a new deal and completing university were two major moments in a life changing 2018, they weren’t the biggest thing that happened to Wallis last year.
He married long-time partner Emily Clemmens in Sorrento a couple of days before Christmas, with Western Bulldogs teammate Tom Boyd and former teammate Koby Stevens two of his groomsmen, alongside his younger brother and his best mate from St Kevin’s College.
With a new contract, both at the club and at home, Wallis looms as one of the Western Bulldogs’ most important players in 2019.
And after the past two years, they need him more than ever.