The Ups And Downs Of AFL - The Marty Pask Experience (Part 2) | Thebigtip

In the first part of the series, Marty Pask revealed all about the pressures of performing as a young footballer looking to make a name for himself. Although we were given a great insight on the life of a footballer, playing the game is only a very small part of Pask's life.

After his playing career, Pask went on to become a successful player agent, managing some of the game's key figures.

In the second half of the interview, the life of a player manager is discussed in great detail, as well as Pask's career in the media.


MM: You're currently working as an AFL player manager as well as managing other athletes from various sports. When did you decide you wanted to go down this path?
MP: When I was three-quarters of the way through playing at the Western Bulldogs, I had an inkling that my papers had been stamped, so I studied and international business course at university and had a great interest in business, banking and that sort of thing from my playing days. I thought that's where I wanted to head down. At the time, a gentleman in Sydney, who had a pretty successful stable of Olympic athletes, invited me to start working with him three or four days a week; I'd spend a couple of days in Sydney and then come back to Melbourne. Once I got delisted, I took him up on that offer. I started working through it thinking 'this is probably me'. I really enjoyed it, and I didn't want to be involved in footy again for twelve months. Then the twelve month mark hit and I wanted something more permanent in Melbourne, and I didn't want to be traveling to Sydney. So I looked around and spoke to a couple of really close people I knew in football circles that I'd met along the way. I threw up the idea to them about managing to find out what they thought I'd be and whether I'd be any good at it. I got a bit of a favourable response, and I'd had a meeting with Rick Olarenshaw. Essentially (Pask's athlete management company) was just starting to launch a few offices here in Australia. Rick was going to be the CEO of it and they needed someone to head up footy, and so Rick and I had a fair few good meetings and Rick took me under his wing for eight months and taught me everything he knew about contract negotiation, market value and gave me a good start, which is something I'm very grateful for. He gave me the reins after eight months and gave me a licence to go out and try to sign players and other athletes, and build the business in AFL and take control of it. Without him, I wouldn't be an agent to start with. He's a very smart man and what he has offered to me in terms of his knowledge is grately appreciated too. Now we run a successful business, we do well in AFL and we also do pretty well in cricket and other sports as well. I guess that's the way it came about, and here I am today.

MM: In your role, you handle the careers of high-calibre players such as Brian Lake (Western Bulldogs), Dyson Heppell (Essendon), Jason Winderlich (Essendon), Jordan Russell (Carlton) and Nathan Vardy (Geelong). What's it like working closely with some of the game's recognised footballers?
MP: I suppose it's good in the sense that you're still involved in football but it's even better in the sense that you get to work closely with people, particularly with young men like Nathan and Dyson where you see them from the start and can help them grow into the people that you hope they will become. You mould them into good, strong, confident people. I'm not here to tell them how good they are at playing football - that's not my job, they've got thousands of coaches to tell them that - my role is to make sure they leave the game in a better position to what their mates at a similar age are, whether that's 25 or whether that's 30; whatever age that might be. That's the enjoyment for me. I remember young Nathan Vardy came to Melbourne real raw from Yarram, and the other week he turned up to his tax meeting with a folder and it was all labeled when twelve months before, he turned up with his group certificate folded up in his pocket. It's the little things like that - to see them listening to you. Then there's the contract negotiation side of things and I thoroughly enjoy that, and getting the best out of the players and making sure that they get all the reward for their effort. That's key, but to see them grow as turn into men is the kick I get, for sure.

MM: You also work with a number of players who are part of AFL teams outside of Victoria such as Dion Prestia (Gold Coast) and Michael Barlow (Fremantle). Is it more difficult to manage these guys considering the distance?
MP: Well, no it's not because I always tell my players when they jump on board with me, and us at Essentially, they're gonna get me as their agent. They don't need to worry about getting handballed to another office or whatever. To me, it doesn't matter if they go to Perth, if they go to the Gold Coast; they could start a team in the north or in WA and they'd see me. They get my time and they get my time equally, and at the end of the day, it's only a plane flight. A lot of clubs do contracts down here in Melbourne so that's not an issue, and Gold Coast and Freo are in Melbourne almost every second week. I don't think it's an issue or a problem, it just means that when they're here, I see them more or when I need to jump on a plane, I jump on a plane and go see them. That's the game, you can't help it. It's a national game and it's only going to keep growing; there's only going to be more teams so you've got to be flexible with your time and your hours and being an agent, there's no set hours. If you client needs you, they need you. For me, it's no issue - you've just got to share your time with your clients and make sure that they A) see enough of you, B) are happy with the services you provide and then C) at the end of the day, you're doing the right thing by them, and I'm certain that I'm doing that.

MM: How much work goes into being a player manager?
MP: A lot, plain and simple. Like I said earlier, you've got to be prepared to work weekends and work evenings. Sometimes there's late nights where you've got to travel, you've got to jump on planes and back your ability. There is a lot of work - sometimes you're a recruiting manager, sometimes you're a big brother, sometimes you're a contract negotiator, sometimes you're just a friend for them to have someone to confide in and talk to. It's one of those businesses where you're defined by your client list, and you can't get too big for your boots as well. You've got to make sure that for the ones that have backed you in from an early starting position, which a lot of my players have, that you don't get too big and you try and keep that core group of blokes that have always backed you in from the start and cap it at a certain number. The key thing is making sure you have a good personal approach and you're giving them your personality as well. That's the important thing - you don't want to be a robot as an agent. You want to be you, you want to be your own person, and I'm not going to be for everyone, I'm not going to be everyone's agent. There's only going to be certain boys or men that will respond to what I offer and respond to my personality, and that's going to be the same for me with who I manage as well. I don't think that there's always going to be a player that I can manage and I don't think I'm always going to be a person that someone could warm to. You've got to be selective with who you go after as well, and who's going to warm to you as an agent, your personality and what principles you're trying to get them to adhere to.

MM: How does the process of a player finding a player manager or vice versa work?
MP: A lot of it comes down to when they're 17 or 18 and playing in the National Championships. There's no science to it; it's everyone's individual approach and individual style that will get you a client. Without giving away trade secrets, it's how you want to approach it and how you want to go about it as an agent. The identification process normally starts when they're about 17/18. Then you can have your 'one out of the box' like Michael Barlow that you see at Werribee and go 'gee, this guy's a player' and try and help him. Then he gets recruited at 21 or 22 and has the impact that he has and noone would have thought that. I don't even Mick or myself thought he'd have the rise that he has. I suppose it's identifying talent early and you go about that by the means that you want to, and ask the people that you trust for their opinion and you form an opinion of the player as a player and as a person. For me, the key thing is as a person. I don't care if they're going to be the number one pick or the ninety-ninth pick in the Rookie Draft. For me, it's if someone will adhere to my personality, what I want to bring to the table as an agent and the principles that we have at Essentially Group, and what we want our footballers to come out of the game as. If we feel that that's not someone who's going to be reflective of our organisation, they're someone we don't persue. I don't think that you can throw the blanket over everybody and think that because they can play football, they've got to be a client. I disagree with that, I think that primarily they play football, but more importantly, they've got to be able to respond to how you are as an agent. There's no point leading a horse to water and have them not drink, so you've got to make sure that they want to follow through on the things that you want to impliment to them with their football, their contract negotiations, their financial planning - all those sorts of things. I think that's crucial, and at a young age, you've got a better chance of them moulding into a client and what you're implementing early as opposed to somebody that's coming from a different organisation that wants you to manage them but needs to change their ways a little bit. It's always picky, but the fundamental thing for us is how good a person this person will be, and then obviously football.

MM: You're also still playing football with the Keilor Football Club this year. Did that affect your work commitments at all?
MP: The good thing about Mick McGuane (Kielor's senior coach) and Keilor was that they gave me a lot of respect with my job and my time. They knew that I'd have a lot of travel and there would be times where I wouldn't be able to make training. Barring injury, I played every game I possibly could, and I enjoyed it too; I think that was the other fundamental thing. Keilor is a great football club and I'm happy I played there, but there's a time in your life where you've always got to look at what's the priority, and for me, football was a priority ten years ago. Now, ten years on, playing football isn't a priority anymore - being a player agent's the priority and my players are the priority. That's just maturing, growing up, getting old and getting a few more grey hairs, realising ten years ago it was important, but hey, it's not that important anymore.

MM: Here's one out of left field; considering the recent demand for experienced footballers, would you consider pushing for a spot on an AFL-list as the likes of mature-age recruits James Podsiadly, Tendai Mzungu and Nick Duigan have done, or is player managing what you want to be doing?
MP: No chance, because I'm as slow as a wet working week and I'm probably carrying a few extra KGs than what I was. I love being a player agent and, like I said, I'm so grateful for Rick Olarenshaw and Essentially Group, and what they've provided for me in way of a job and I guess a life as well as a career. That's where I'm at at the moment and where my responsibilities are.

MM: You've dabbled in the media side of football more recently, doing some work for TheBigTip and the ABC commentating the VFL. Is this something that you'd like to persue further?
MP: It's certainly something I've enjoyed. I think I'm in my third year with the ABC and again, I appreciate the start they've given me. It's something that I always wanted to try and someone suggested I'd be good at it, then Chris Thompson and the ABC guys gave me the opportunity. It's something that I enjoy, it's a different aspect and having played under some good coaches and working closely with the players that do play football, you get to understand football different, and you get to offer a different insight to people that sit at home and listen. So from that aspect, yeah, it's something I certainly like and enjoy, and hopefully people find it informative enough to want to listen to me and not turn off their TVs. If there's ever an opportunity to dabble in it, if it doesn't take me away from my players and still lets me be an agent to the best of my ability, then yes, I'll always do it because it's sometimes a nice way to look at football in a different perspective. And half the time, your players are playing, so you get to watch them. If you're at the game, you might as well be at the game doing something rather than just sitting there having a pie and a coke.

MM: Over the entirety of your career, as both a footballer, manager and media personality, which has been your most enjoyable role?
MP: The most enjoyable role has been, without doubt, being a player agent. There's times as a player that you love and you miss the football change room humour. There's no other place that you can go where 45 blokes' laughter echoes down the hallways. That, I miss massively, and I've always enjoyed that. I love having a laugh, I love having a joke and I've really missed that, so that and the comradery for me was probably the most enjoyable thing. But as an agent, like I said, I get a real kick out of seeing my players do things away from the football field that you've had a hand in, whether that's them saving money towards a certain goal or getting the contract that they've always wanted. Then there's going through moments with players, like Micky Barlow with his leg, Jason Winderlich who unfortunately did his knee this year or Nathan Vardy just recently with his hip operation. Confiding in them and working with them to achieve a goal, that's my biggest kick for sure.


This two-part series is a great eye-opening experience, giving those on the outside a look into the life of someone who has been through it all with Australian Rules. A big thanks must go out to Marty Pask for giving up the time - the result of his generosity is a magnificent outside-looking-in-view of the game as we know it.