Alipate ‘Bobby’ Carlile has been in the AFL system for eleven seasons and carries a strong passion for the game.

He started at the age of 13 in Wangaratta where he played soccer before he took up football.

“My parents got sick of driving me to soccer, so I played footy,” he said with a laugh.

Football was a sport he described as "forced upon me’ His older brother played so he followed him. The brothers were all competitive and strived to be better than each other.

Alipate started his football with a college club in Wangaratta before moving to play with the Wangaratta Rovers, the local football club. He then worked his way up through the Murray Bushrangers system in the TAC cup. In footy he has had three major achievements. He won a premiership with Wangaratta, came 3^rd in the Best and Fairest in his first year with the Bushrangers and was the MVP (Most Valuable Player) in the Under 18 Bushranger state team.

At the age of 18 Bobby was drafted by Port Adelaide Football Club. For Bobby this was an exciting step and it offered him a way out of Victoria, something which he was pleased to have achieved. He jokingly told me that he ‘would’ve been delisted pretty quickly because of his mates.” Bobby moved out of home and found himself living with Troy Chaplin, another member of Port Adelaide. A veteran back man of the club who now plays for the Richmond Tigers. He then moved in with a host family, Mark and Tina Eames, known as a replacement mum and dad for draftees. The family hosted him for two years preparing him to live by himself.

The professional nature of any elite sporting club can be difficult to adjust to. Alipate joked that he is “still adjusting.” The highly professional nature of the sport didn’t sit comfortably with him. He said, “I was still in the mode that you play footy, then went out with your mates afterwards”. Alipate slowly adjusted to the professional nature and suggested that the new expectations suit his life better as he has his kids and fiancé that he goes home to after each game. For the continuously evolving game it is important to maintain a professional diet and a professional attitude off the field and this helps Bobby to keep up with the changes within the game.

His debut game against St Kilda in Launceston is something he will never forget. Mark Williams also known as ‘Chocco’, delivered the message that Warren Tredrea had pulled out of the game. Bobby joked that “he pulled out with a sore pinkie or something.” He was lucky enough to have his parents there to witness his first game. Bobby played 30 minutes of football full of nerves causing him to feel as if he had played 3 games straight. Unfortunately, they lost by 4 points after a teammate missed a set-shot after the siren. Since then, Bobby has played a total of 167 AFL games although he said “I haven’t really kept track since I reached 100.”

Playing an elite sport ultimately comes with injuries. Whilst few players may complete a career without major injuries, some aren’t as lucky. Bobby has experienced most of his injuries towards the pointy end of his career. Currently he has a broken scaphoid putting his season on hold. In the past the only other major injury he has suffered is a stress fracture in his hip that impacted his season last year. Serious injuries can potentially cause an end to an AFL career. For Bobby, he finds that you go through phases of how long you would like your career to go for and having mental toughness plays a

key role in this. Bobby would like to remain playing if the club is heading in the right direction and if he is a part of the succession plan. He works closely with new recruit, Logan Austin, and will step aside when “Kenny gives me the boot” he says, laughing.

Bobby has played under a total of 3 head coaches and 6 line coaches. He expressed that each coach has taught him something different. He describes head coaches as the inspirational leaders and line coaches as someone who you have contact with on a more personal level. Ken Hinkley is Port Adelaide head coach and rated very highly by Alipate. Ken is good at harnessing everyone’s strengths as a team and individually. Mark Williams has also been a favourite amongst his coaches. A good teacher, he had the ability to pull Bobby out of Fiji time and get more intensity from him however Ken has taught Bobby the most. He’s big on the little things like picking up rubbish and being community and family-focussed.

Alipate holds aspirations for this year and the future. He aspires to get the team playing the football they know they can play. He also wants to impact the community and continue his multicultural work with the academy. This also

carries through to his future aspirations and life after footy. He has a few business ventures he’s completing such as his fitness business at Henley Beach. He also wants to spend as much time with his kids as possible watching them grow and flourish.

Alipate believes that the club has given him a lot and he hopes that he has repaid them. When he first started at Port Adelaide, he didn’t appreciate the history and the people that make it such a special place. He looks back at his time at the club so far and appreciates the relationships he has made with teammates and the office staff. The playing group have been through a lot together and are going through ups and downs at the moment, and Bobby said, “it really makes you appreciate the good times you’ve had.”