The first time Stewart Crameri trained with Essendon he was trialling for the rookie list spot that it took him another 12 months to get. He didn’t know if he was good enough to play for an AFL team and had no idea what other people were thinking. The first time he trained as a Western Bulldog, he was a known name, the high-priced recruit meant to help make the team’s forward line work better than it had been. This time he knew fewer players than knew him, and the contrast was strange.
''First impressions count!'' called Brendan McCartney as Crameri jogged onto the ground, and it made him feel slightly nervous. ''It did, because in my career I’d always been an unknown, even to me, and coming into this club I knew I had to play well and kick goals and things like that. I was thinking about that a bit at the start, and for the first few weeks I didn’t want to stuff anything up,'' he said.
''It was different pressure than I was used to, but I think I handled it all right, it didn’t last very long and the club didn’t put any pressure on me. That helped, and the months went on and I started playing games and that pressure wasn’t there anymore. It was in my head but I put it to the back and after a few games it felt right, like I just had to do my best.''
Not too much fazes Crameri, who thinks the decision he made to leave Essendon for the team down the road last October will be the biggest one he ever has to make. There were many reasons to stay - it was the club that gave him his start, and he had made some very good friends there - but he woke up one morning while on holiday in Noosa and knew he wanted take the Bulldogs’ offer.
Ten months on, he’s glad he did. ''I got a lot of advice, and I didn’t know what people would think. I thought, Essendon gave me my shot and now the Western Bulldogs have made me this offer and want me to go there, what will people think of me if I change clubs? It was a hard decision and people had different thoughts but in the end I had to sit there and decide what was best for me as a footballer.
''I wanted to come to this club to try and develop my skills and my game, try and improve my leadership and my game style and keep evolving. I felt like I wasn’t getting that where I was, and you’re kind of taking a step into the unknown when you go to a new club but it felt like it would be a good change.''
It has been, and the things McCartney sold him on last year are the things he likes most about his new home. Crameri has enjoyed being, at times, the oldest member of a forward line filled up with ''a bunch of 20-year-olds, getting better every week''. He has kept himself fit, for the first time in a long while, understanding now how much work is too much for his body to handle and not guessing like he did when he was recruited out of the VFL. And he has liked kicking some goals, without being expected to kick all of the goals.
''The way Macca says it, he got me to help out with some of their issues in the forward line but not to be the saviour,'' said Crameri, who is still on track for his most goals in a season. ''I’m just trying to be part of the group and get used to everyone, learn what they’re good at so that they can help me play better and I can help them play better.
''That takes some time but I’m just trying to do my best and I think we’ve got a pretty good group down here. If we keep working on things together, then I think we should be all right. I'm getting used to my part in that and also trying to help the younger guys and guide them to play better football, which is a different experience for me.
''It made me learn the game style as quickly as I could, because I knew the team needs me to play in a certain way. At the start I was thinking, 'I have to do this, I have to do that,' but the coaches took that feeling away from me straight away.That helped, and it's gotten a lot easier.''
So has one other thing: playing against his former team. ''The first time we played them early this year I was pretty nervous. I was thinking ‘what if this or that happens?’ and I could hear the crowd. I didn’t have my best game, but it was good to confront it and get it out of the way,'' said Crameri, who played against Essendon for the second time last week. ''On the weekend it felt like a normal game, against any other team. I felt more comfortable, like I’ve moved on. This is my team now. Every week I’m feeling a bit more at home here.''
