Joey writes for the Herald Sun about his good mate.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/m ... 160f694536
As his final game looms, I want to give you an insight into the human side of this superhuman champion.
To talk about the man we call “Rooey” when he wasn’t wearing his red, white and black No.12 cape.
I was drafted to St Kilda Football Club in 2002, one year after Nick.
Nick Riewoldt and Leigh Montagna have been friends a long time. Picture: Getty Images
That same year, I broke my ankle and was couch bound for a couple of weeks.
While many teammates sent me texts, Rooey and “Kosi” (Justin Koschitzke) made the effort to drive all the way from Brighton, to my family home in Rosanna for a visit.
It was the start of a blossoming friendship and a relationship I know will last a lifetime.
Later that same year, Nick and Kosi asked me to move in with them.
I remember talking to my dad about it and he pointed out that it would be a great opportunity to learn how to prepare like an elite athlete, particularly having just watched Roo win the Rising Star award and club best and fairest in just his second season.
Dad was right. Living with Nick, I truly learned what made him a champion.
His competitiveness and will to win was evident in almost everything we did.
If we played table tennis, Roo wanted to win 21-0 every time, and our backyard cricket games were consistently ruined by his refusal to throw his wicket away.
Who blocks in backyard cricket anyway?
While this determination to succeed has always been one of Nick’s greatest strengths, it could also be a downfall.
In the early years, it made Roo highly strung and sometimes difficult to be around. Game days in particular were the worst.
He would be in his own world and we’d often hear him throwing up in the changerooms before a game.
His famous on-field pre-game warm ups, I feel, were as much to burn off nervous tension as it was to warm up. He just knew what he had to do to perform at his best.
He was fanatical in his preparation, demanding as a leader and would now admit that his one-eyed obsession with being great had an impact on his enjoyment of the game.