Riv on the Record – Sam De Koning

WELCOME to Riv on the Record, a new weekly column connecting you with the unique and fascinating individuals shaping our community.

This series will offer an intimate, conversational look into the lives, passions, and expertise of local figures — from business owners and artists to community leaders and everyday heroes.

This week I had the great pleasure of being joined by Geelong Cats premiership player Sam De Koning at TNG Studios in Torquay. Spin it!

Cats are through! Tell us about the excitement levels ahead of the AFL preliminary final?

It was great to get the win first up.

It’s fantastic to have a bit of time now to reset, take it all in and enjoy the time off. We’ve got two more big wins to have and hopefully we can bring the silverware back to Geelong.

What it’s like playing for a club that has had so much success over an extended period of time?

It’s pretty wild! I’m just lucky to be part of it… The culture at the club is just so conducive to winning… They’ve built this over a long period of time.

It’s seen fresh faces — new players, new staff, new board, new leaders — and they just continue to be doing the right thing.

I’m incredibly privileged to be playing at Geelong and doing what I love.

When did you realise you wanted to become a footballer, where did it all start for you?

I’m from the Mornington Peninsula originally and I just used to watch my brother Tom go to Auskick and follow him along when I was three or four years old.

There’s old footage of Tom’s pack of Auskickers running, and me running 20m behind them with my long blonde hair down to my bum trying to chase them!

I fell in love with it as a kid, all my friends played, and it’s always been a social thing and about having fun.

Around 12-15-years-old, I was quite small you could say… I was playing half back and through the midfield. Once I turned 16-17, I grew 20cm, and they then had to put me in key positions… I’d like to think I still have some of those skills from being a midfielder.

Gladly, the Cats saw something in me and I’m super grateful for them to take me in the draft and to be part of the club.

 

What’s the best and worst parts of your job?

The best part is just doing what you always dreamed of as a kid. There’s quotes in my year six workbook of me wanting to be an AFL footballer. You just have to think back to that, and you pinch yourself when you’re running out in front of 90,000 people at the MCG.

The hardest part is the media scrutiny and the access people have to us. Anyone can contact you at any time and say whatever they like. As a modern-day AFL footballer we have to deal with it, and a lot of people would struggle with it. You have to find ways to get through that and just trust in your coaches and yourself to attack your career through the ups and downs.

How do you spend your time away from the club?

I try and surf as much as I can. I try to get through with little to no injuries for my surfing to improve.

I play golf as well which helps with my little competitive nature outside of football. It’s a bit of a release, and surfing is a bit similar.

For me, it’s all about enjoying the beautiful country that we live on.

What’s good about where we live?

I’m so lucky to live down here in Torquay.

It’s pretty special to be 25 minutes from an AFL club and living down on the coast. You really get the best of both worlds.

I grew up holidaying in Torquay and my parents still have a caravan at the local park. For me, it’s really been a second home.

The community is so welcoming and the things you can do here is incredible — the restaurants, the scenery — you can drive for hours and see what people come from all over the world to see.

I try and appreciate it as much as I can by getting out in the water. It’s my form of meditation to keep my life balanced and really gives me the ability to tackle my footy with a clear mind.

RAPID RIV:

I’m coming over for dinner, what’re you cooking me? Tuna pasta

Pump up song? Anything 50 Cent

Favourite movie? The Thing, Fantastic Mr Fox and Notting Hill

Favourite animal? Fox

Holiday destination? Bali or Noosa

Toughest opponent: Tom De Koning