This back-up ruck played 80-odd games over 13 years amid constant uncertainty. He cherishes his career

At Carlton, where he landed after five years at the Giants, he began to look for reasons why selection wasn’t falling his way as often as he hoped.

“I felt like I’m taking this really well. I’m always positive in thinking, ‘Okay, that’s all right, selection didn’t go my way. I’ll go back and chip away in the twos’.

“Then after a while I started thinking: ‘Am I just an easy drop here because I take it so well?’ Part of me [thought] ‘Am I too nice? Am I taking this too…