Josh Caddy, so far feels as though his AFL journey has been a fortunate one. He cannot believe that he was lucky enough to learn from one of the most admired players of all time, Gary Ablett, but also to be given the opportunity to play at Geelong Cats where the list of AFL legends continue to grow.
"It's a bit ironic that (I) ended up being the pick they got for Gaz,'' Caddy told News Limited.
"When I was playing with him, I took on board everything that he was saying.’’
"But the way I look at it now is, if Gaz hadn't gone to the Gold Coast, I probably would never have gone to Geelong.
Despite the external pressures that Caddy feels being the player Geelong received for Gary Ablett, he is determined not to be affected by the expectations and will concentrate on developing his game.
"Externally, there might be more pressure. When you put yourself on the open market, you have to live with that,’’ Caddy said.
"But I don't think that means I will put any extra pressure on myself.
Caddy sees his transition to Geelong as an opportunity to become the best midfielder that he can be. As soon as Caddy arrived to have a look around the club he immediately felt a sense of belonging, after receiving an unexpected and warm welcome from Geelong’s captain, Joel Selwood and Brownlow Medallist, Jimmy Bartel.
"It is very humbling to be told by Jimmy and Joel they want you to come to their club,'' Caddy said.
"I am not a superstitious person, but I just got a really good feeling from Geelong as soon as I walked into the club.’’
"I felt as if I wanted to be a part of the footy club and they had the ammo to be able to get the trade done as well.
"I watched the VFL grand final (last year) and Geelong's style of play and playing list really appealed to me.
"And I thought I can end up probably the best player that I can be by learning off those great midfielders.’’
Caddy is determined to make a positive contribution to the team and achieve his short-term goal of being good enough to play senior footy by round one. However, he realises the hard work that he needs to put in before he can earn this position on the field.
"Like everyone, my goal is to be playing Round 1 against Hawthorn,'' Caddy said.
"I make no secret that I want to be staying in the senior side. I don't want to be playing VFL footy.’’
"But I also understand that it is not going to be given to me. I have to earn that.
Although Caddy had his heart set on returning home to Victoria, he can't help but feel guilty for leaving the Suns after only two seasons.
"I do feel a little guilty because they had invested an early draft pick into me (pick 7, 2010 draft), so I felt as if I had let them down a bit,'' he admitted.
"But I wanted to make sure that Gold Coast was fairly compensated.''
Caddy also regrets how his reasons for leaving were incorrectly perceived, after saying ‘’his heart wasn’t in it,’’ and confirms that he is a footy nut who puts his heart and soul into any game, at any level.
"That was taken the wrong way,'' he said.
"No matter who you are playing for, as soon as you run out to play, you put your heart and soul into it.’’
"What I meant by that comment was that deep down, I really wanted to be living in Victoria.
"When I was drafted, I was grateful to be picked up, but I think I underestimated how much I love being in Victoria.
"I'm a footy nut. I love the atmosphere and the whole footy feel, even at local level.''
Caddy’s father was also hospitalised last year and he believes people saw this as his main reason to move.
"My dad was a bit crook at the time, but it was blown out of proportion that I wanted to return to Melbourne for that reason,'' he said.
"Dad had open heart surgery last year and all went fine, so everything is OK with him now.''
Caddy couldn’t be more excited about his future at Geelong Cats and feels lucky to be playing along side some of the best players in the competition.
I'm really loving it down there,'' he said.
"We've got a really good spread of young guys and middle-aged guys and we are lucky enough to have all those experienced players to learn off,'' Caddy explained.
"I've been able to learn off a number of different players, guys like Jimmy Bartel in a contested side of things and at the stoppages, and James Kelly in terms of running patterns and reading where the next kick might go.
"Then there's Joel Corey, Joel (Selwood), 'Stevie J' (Johnson) and 'Chappy' (Paul Chapman). It's great to be able to learn from so many good players.''
This year the game between Geelong Cats and Gold Coast Suns on June 1st under the lights, will make history for a number of reasons and Caddy is looking forward to being involved in the celebration.
There is going to be great rivalry between the two clubs, with Gaz going up there, with the first game at Metricon (in 2011) and now the first game under lights at our home ground,'' he said.
"At least the support will be with us this time around.''
