Bushby Street, Midvale in Perth’s outer Eastern suburbs is a humble part of town. It is lined by commission housing, crime rate is high and average income is low. However if wealth is measured by football talent alone, every house has a Rolls Royce parked in its driveway.
One upon a time Bushby Street was home to three current stars of the AFL, Nic Naitanui, Chris Yarran and Michael ‘Sonny’ Walters. Jeff Garlett, was just a few streets down.
The biggest story in the lead-up to the 2008 National Draft was the journey to the big time of these three West Aussies. Naitunui was taken with Pick 2; he needs no introduction, Yarran was pick 6; he will play AFL game number 100 next season and Walters? Walters was selected with Pick 53 and until last season was clearly the Dean Waugh of the Bushby brothers.
Walters played only 11 games in his first three seasons at Fremantle and was banished to his WAFL club on the eve of the 2012 season for being overweight.
But this year, fresh on the back of a promising second half of 2012 and with Naitanui battling injury and Yarran’s form fluctuating, it is Walters propping-up Bushby Street.
In 2013 Walters has played 18 games, averaged more than 15 disposals and kicked 40 goals from 60 scoring shots. His ability to chase, tackle and pressure, work up and down the ground and finish with precision is a major reason why Fremantle secured a top 4 position.
He is the spark to Fremantle’s defensive procession and a lock in the AFL Players’ 22under22 team, with his hand in the air for a position in the forward pocket in the All-Australian team.
They say a week is a long time in football, so imagine what can happen in 18 months and for Walters, a lot has happened.
When Walters was sent back to Swan Districts in January 2012 for disciplinary reasons, some feared he might never return. But return he did. Nine kilograms lighter after overhauling his diet, with a-pep in his step, a baby daughter and a newfound commitment to the game, Walters played 10 games in the second half of the year, including two finals and kicked 22 goals.
Walters never considered quitting, but he admits hearing the honest feedback of his coaches and teammates was tough, something that planted seed for his triumphant return.
“I was more angry at myself, that I had let myself get that way. Coming back from a season break in the shape I was in was more disappointing than anything. I should never have let myself get that way, it wasn’t anyone else’s fault I was like that.”
“It’s not that I considered quitting, but I am pretty hard headed and I wanted to prove everyone wrong. I was told that I was overweight. I was told that I was unfit and I didn’t want to quit. I wanted to make a point and I think that I did,” he says.
“It’s not that I considered quitting, but I am pretty hard headed and I wanted to prove everyone wrong. I was told that I was overweight. I was told that I was unfit and I didn’t want to quit. I wanted to make a point and I think that I did” – Sonny Walters
His love for the game was tested and the business side of football became clearer. There is no doubt his football life flashed before his eyes, but his competitive spirit and his pregnant partner drove him through the three-month exile.
“I wouldn’t be making this money working on a construction site, I knew that I have a family that I have to provide for and the main thing I wanted to get out of it was a house. I have just bought a house now, so I feel like I have got things back on track.”
The road back to Fremantle was rocky, Walters was driving an hour and back to Swans training every day and doing up to four sessions under the guidance of Greg Harding and Phil Smart. But with each trip he returned with a wiser head, and the cheekiest Bushy brother now sees himself as a role model.
“I see myself as a different kind of role model, a role model that has been there and then had it taken away from him. I worked hard and to bounce back the way I did, I see myself as a different type of role model in that way.”
With a taste of finals footy lingering, Walters tackled the 2012/13 pre-season with vigor from day one, building the fitness base that is the catalyst for his 2013 form. He is confident his days in fat camp are well and truly gone.
“Having a baby and with another on the way, it helps me keep on the track I am at the moment. I know I won’t go away on this break and do what I did in 2011/12.”
Walters is also completing a Certificate IV in Education, working at his old high school, Swan View Senior High School one day per week, helping kids with their schoolwork or playing basketball in between classes. Something that keeps Walters’ mind fresh and provides balance.
Walters is looking forward to the off-season where he will return to his mum’s house in Bushby Street and catch up with Naitanui and Yarran, but before then he’s got some work to do. It starts on Saturday at Simmonds stadium, and given the excited air of confidence in his voice, it might just be a Sonny September.