The new Cats are both from country Victoria, with Darcy Lang from Colac and Nick Bourke from Noorat.
“We knew each other through just footy really, the longer we played together the better friends we became,” Lang said.
“It probably started in the local under 15’s team and then eventuated through Vic Country and Geelong Falcons for the next three years,” Bourke said.
Lang was Geelong’s first selection in the 2013 draft (No. 16) and Bourke was taken at 31 in last year’s rookie draft.
The youngsters agreed that playing for the Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup certainly made the transition to the Cats easier, also citing their friendship for making day one less daunting.
“Once he came here I was pretty happy, had a close mate to kind of hang around. It helped [with the transition] I reckon,” Lang said.
Their friendship has stemmed from football and seems to be cemented in it, admitting they don’t do anything too exciting outside the club.
“We’ve sort of been trying to get into a bit of golf… Sometimes we watch some movies… Nah we don’t do much at all,” Lang realized amid laughter.
“We go to [Lang’s] house and watch movies and that, [his host family] has a big movie theatre so we spend a lot of time there,” Bourke added.
The pair was quick to name Jarrad Jansen as their third amigo, another first year Cat who was selected in the draft from Western Australia.
“We’ve all kind of clicked as a three,” Bourke said.
Given how much time Bourke and Lang spend together, they each had plenty to say about the other when asked to describe them.
“As a person, annoying, nah he’s pretty funny you can have a good laugh with him, he doesn’t take himself too seriously which is good.
“As a player, he’s pretty versatile; he can play in most positions pretty well and picks up the game pretty well,” Lang said.
“As a player he’s pretty composed, he doesn’t seem to get caught too much, always finds the right option and doesn’t get tackled. He always seems to have time and can use both sides of his body really well,” Bourke said.
“He’s a good bloke, he’s pretty funny. We’re probably a bit different; he’s a bit more mature than me.
“He’s in love with his girlfriend [too]. I don’t see much of him when his girlfriend’s down, she comes down and yeah she’s kind of the chosen one,” Bourke added, jokingly jealous.
Bourke admitted Lang was one of the first people he called after the Cats selected him and that they were both excited to begin their AFL career together.
“I got to know [Lang] really well and was really good mates with him, then we were lucky enough to be picked up by the same club which was pretty exciting,” Bourke said.
Lang had an interesting journey to being drafted, badly breaking his leg in 2013 and missing most of the season, casting doubt over when he would be selected.
In the days after the draft, rumours that his friends turned up to his house in Geelong jumpers as soon as his name was read out started circulating.
“Yeah that did happen, my best mate, he’s a Geelong supporter so he rocked up in the jumper with a texta and got me to sign it straight away,” Lang said.
Lang debuted against the Saints two weeks ago and admitted he was pretty nervous.
“The night before [the game] I’d just sort of played the game over already in my head, sort of the possibilities that could happen on the ground. It took me a while to get to sleep,” Lang said.
Both Lang and Bourke are looking forward to an exciting future together with the Cats.
