Josh Dunkley wants to clear the air.
Comments here and there from both the Dunkley and Western Bulldogs camps have piqued the interest of the footy public, questioning whether there was ill-will between the two parties in the lead-up to Dunkley’s departure at the end of last year.
The man at the centre of it all was at pains to set the record straight ahead of the first season at his new club.
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“It just kind of annoys me a little bit when people talk about little things that come up. I don’t have anything against the Dogs,” he told foxfooty.com.au.
“What they did for me as a player and person was incredible. I’m very thankful for that and I would never go out of my way to talk them down.”
Dunkley isn’t the first player to take up a lucrative offer from a rival organisation.
Like many who take those offers, Dunkley said, it was more a case of what was on offer than what he was leaving behind.
“There’s no underlying issues. It’s just what happens,” he explained.
“I feel like the game now, you look at all the American sports, everyone moves everywhere and it’s for a number of reasons. My reasons are my reasons, I don’t really have to voice all those reasons that everyone wants me to.
“At the end of the day, I have full respect for the Western Bulldogs footy club, full respect. They did everything to make me the player and person I am today, led by Bevo (Dogs coach Luke Beveridge) and all the boys. I’ve still got good relationships with all the lads.”
Comments about the Lions’ training program ruffled the feathers of some Dogs fans, who took them as a backhand to the Dogs.
Again, the loudest critic of this interpretation was Dunkley himself.
“When all that stuff came out, I was probably more disappointed for the people involved like Matt Inness (the Dogs’ high performance boss). I love Matty, he’s one of the best guys going around,” Dunkley stressed.
“To hear people sort of talking him down affects me, because what he’s done for me has been incredible. He works as hard as anyone that I know. So it’s just disappointing in that regard.
“I feel like what comes out is not right and I hate seeing people suffer because of that type of stuff.
“Every AFL club has different theories and every performance manager has a different way of approaching it. Each to their own really. At the end of the day, I was just talking about the pre-season, I wasn’t talking about anything else.”
The reality for the Dogs is that they couldn’t offer what the Lions did in terms of a lifestyle change – one that has worked wonders for the likes of new teammates Joe Daniher and Lincoln McCarthy in the past.
Roam the outdoors in Melbourne for one week and you’ll be met with weather changes galore, which quickly drills in a mindset to expect the unexpected when leaving home.
In Queensland, things are often far less complex.
“Obviously the humidity and all that stuff comes into it,” Dunkley said.
“It makes you feel better, waking up sometimes you’re really sore and if it’s freezing cold outside you’re a bit concerned going to training, but up there it’s warm so you’re just like righto, let’s get into it.
“I’m a big believer in doing saunas. When I was in Melbourne, I had a sauna at home and now I feel like I don’t really need it because you’re constantly sweating. You go for a five-minute walk and you start sweating. It’s great.
“I couldn’t really be any happier at the moment. Obviously everything that everyone knows that Queensland is coming through and I’m noticing it as well, so it’s great.”
Back during the trade period, the skies were for Dunkley and partner Tippah in Fiji, but his future was clouded, as negotiations over his future dragged on right until the deadline.
Unlike discussions with Essendon in 2020, however, this move ended up coming to fruition.
It involved multiple picks and plenty of stress for Dunkley’s manager Liam Pickering, but paid off in the nick of time.
“The trade period was pretty hectic. I was in Fiji with my partner Tippah, that was at the start in the first couple of days. Straightaway I thought there might have been some movement, but then turns out there wasn‘t. It felt like it was always going to be a last minute thing,” Dunkley recalled.
“I came home and went back to the farm and just spent the whole time with my family. It was very tough, it was hard because you’re not sure, you hear all these different things and everyone’s talking about pre-season draft and it was a it was a tough time.
“Looking back, I didn’t really enjoy the journey, but it wasn’t that big a deal, you look back now and you’re like righto, it got done.
“That’s the main thing and we move on, I’m thankful to both parties for finally getting the deal done – I think there was like 15 minutes to go.
Now that the deal is done and Dunkley is a Lion, the prospect of what he’ll bring to the premiership contenders is a tantalising prospect.
Fresh off winning the best and fairest award at the Dogs, Dunkley has at times been the most damaging midfielder in the competition forward of centre.
It’s a difficult balance to get right, but the rewards for the Lions would be considerable if they can crack the code.
“I’ll still have a similar sort of mindset, mid-forward but probably a little bit more midfield to be honest,” he said.
“I can’t remember how much I ended up playing last year, people were saying like 50-50 mid-forward. I just wanted to play where the team needed me and I‘ll have that same approach in Brisbane, because we’ve got a good list and good team.
“Whatever it takes for us to win a game, that’s what I’ll do. I reckon it will be a little bit more midfield and then float forward when I can and hopefully kick some goals.”
Dunkley is one of the Lions’ big three recruits this off-season, with ready-made draftee Will Ashcroft and former Hawthorn spearhead Jack Gunston.
Those three will be looking to prove themselves the difference between the Lions’ near misses and a sought-after premiership under Chris Fagan.
“He’s been massive,” Dunkley said of Gunston.
“I remember before we even got traded, we actually did an appearance together, we were just talking about it and being able to relate obviously, with him winning three.
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“Talking about the potential move up north, it was sort of a bit of fire in the belly for both of us, we both haven’t been there for a few years. It’s exciting and I’m looking forward to what the future holds.”
A premiership at the Lions would be Dunkley’s second after a whirlwind debut year at the Dogs back in 2016.
This one, however, would come at a far different stage in his career.
“That was my first year. To come out of the draft and then play in an AFL premiership, it just happened so quickly. Everyone at that time was like ‘jeez, like, it’s such a big deal’ and I felt like, not that I didn’t appreciate it, but it probably just felt like a whirlwind,” he said.
“It all happened so quick … you probably don’t enjoy it as much as what you probably should. After that, you go through the rollercoaster of emotions and injuries and whatever it might be and you work through.
“In 2021, we played in Perth in the grand final against the Dees and even if we won that, that would have been, I feel even more special than what 16’ was probably to a few of us because we were so young in 16.
“To win another one now would be incredible, words can’t describe how much I want to get back there and win the ultimate. I’ll do anything.”
