Decorated St Kilda defender Sam Fisher has been here before, many times. He’s in the concluding stages of another pre-season, his 13th summer slog, one that has come and gone without a hiccup, providing him with the right foundation to build on his resurgence last season.
Following two injury decimated years in 2013 and 2014, which nearly drew the curtains on his career, Fisher wound back the clock last season, playing 18 games to finish ninth in the Trevor Barker Award, earning a contract extension and re-energising a career that appeared on the brink of extinction 12 months earlier.
At 33, Fisher is the oldest player at Linen House Centre. And with his age and experience the dual All Australian is well aware of the miles his body needs put into it ahead of a season and how important being on the track is across the pre-season.
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“I’ve had a consistent pre-season right the way through, I’ve done the majority of the work so I’m confident I’m fit enough,” Fisher told saints.com.au on Wednesday.
“For me it’s just about being consistently out there and getting some continuity with it all and basically just getting it all done.
“I don’t think at my age, well I certainly wasn’t winning time-trials and I don’t think I need to be, but just by being out there and consistently doing the majority of the sessions is what’s worked for me, especially the last year.
“I had my injury troubles, but just getting that continuity and consistency in my training and getting most of it done, sets you up to have the best opportunity to have a really good season.”
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After playing in the Saints intra-club, Fisher was rested from the opening NAB Challenge game against North Melbourne before making the trip north last weekend to open his pre-season account. At least that was the plan before Mother Nature intervened.
Fisher, like a handful of senior players was set for his first appearance of the NAB Challenge series, but due to the cancellation was forced to return home without a game under his belt. The unique circumstances were a challenge for Fisher, but he said the Mackay trip wasn’t a waste of time.
“It was quite challenging, in my preparation I go up a day earlier anyway – I’ve had a few back issues over my time,” Fisher said.
“To go up early and be left in the unknown for quite some time was hard mentally, but you’ve got to try and put it aside and prepare as you normally would.
“It was probably the right decision in the end. We certainly got something out of it, we did a running session up there in the sloggy conditions – did about 12km.
“Even though we didn’t play a game and didn’t get the hits side of things, we’ll make up for that this week. We certainly didn’t waste the time up there.”
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A lot has changed at St Kilda since a 21-year-old Fisher landed at the club via West Adelaide in the SANFL at the end of 2003. Taken with selection No. 55, the South Australian is one of celebrated recruiter John Beveridge’s more shrewd selections during his esteemed career. Peer closer at Fisher’s CV if you need to know more.
Ahead of 2016, a season which could quite possibly be his final year, Fisher is buoyed by the state of affairs at his club. The youth excites him, whilst the presence of some of his oldest mates makes his time even more enjoyable.
“It’s really good to have all these young guys coming through,” Fisher said. “On top of that, still having a few old guys that I’ve played a lot of football with and they’ve had great pre-seasons.
“I guess the mixture of the youth and the old is really exciting, hopefully we can all just gel together and really improve and push back up towards the finals where I’ve played a lot of finals series throughout my career – I haven’t missed too many so I’d like to be back up there.”
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