FIVE years ago, David Hale made the decision to move to Hawthorn.
As the saying goes, the rest is history.
The 31-year-old ruckman-forward announced his retirement from AFL football today after 237 matches and as a three-peat premiership player in one of Hawthorn’s most successful periods.
He played 129 matches with North Melbourne, after being recruited to the club with pick seven in the 2001 AFL Draft.
At the end of 2010 he joined the brown and gold.
Two seasons later, he played in a grand final defeat. In 2013, 2014 and 2015, he played in premiership triumphs.
“My five years at Hawthorn have been more than obviously I could dream of,” Hale said.
“Five, six years ago, to think that I could finish my career the way that it’s turned out was pretty unbelievable.”
Born in Tasmania, Hale’s football career developed in Queensland. He never imagined being a three-time premiership player.
“When you’re playing footy at that age you don’t really think about getting to the big time,” he said.
“It probably wasn’t until I was about 15 or 16 that I actually focused solely on footy anyway.
“Once you start, that is the dream.”
Hale said he was confident his move to the Hawks would help him realise that dream.
“At North, I probably never really had that sense that we were close to winning the flag, but as soon as I got here that sense came pretty quickly,” he said.
“I ended up sitting down with Clarko (at the end of 2010) and going through the names on the whiteboard and seeing the talent that we had here.
“It was a pretty easy decision to come in the end. The five years here have been vindicated in that sense - three flags in a row with such an amazing group.”
Former Kangaroos teammate and then Hawks assistant coach Adam Simpson was a key driver behind getting Hale to the club.
He credits a number of people with his success since then, thanking coach Alastair Clarkson for his “unwavering support” and ruck coach Damian Monkhorst for developing his game.
Hale said he was “eternally grateful” to Monkhorst.
“When I first came to Hawthorn, I probably hadn’t done a lot of ruck work to be honest at North,” he said.
“I remember my first session with Monkey, the end of it was to wrestle with Monk and try to get the ball of him… it was like trying to move concrete.
“Since then it’s slowly improved. Monk’s given me a wealth of knowledge.”
Hale has been able to use that knowledge to great effect. In his 108 games at Hawthorn, he’s played in 86 wins and been a consistent contributor.
He said knowing his role – and his teammates knowing theirs – had been the key to team success in his time at Hawthorn.
“Regardless of your age, profile or position you play, everyone knows the role you should be filling,” Hale said.
“I guess that’s something that’s indoctrinated in us as soon as you get here.
“The leadership group and the culture we’ve got here is second to none from what I’ve seen. Going forward we’ve got some good young fellas coming through who can drive that going forward.
Post football, Hale will have plenty of time to spend with his young family, and has almost finished the teaching degree that he’s been chipping away at for “about the last 14 years”.
He’s very much a family man.
As a young kid growing up in the country, it was his parents who encouraged him to play a number of sports, and drove him around the countryside to do so.
There were maybe a few doubts back then, but after a decorated career at the highest level, there are none now.
“Mum wasn’t too keen on footy because it robbed me of my tennis career… but I think she’s finally come around.”
