New Bomber Dylan Shiel has revealed how he got through the few months in the lead up to trade period, knowing he was the talk of the town.
Shiel said he listened in to 1116 SEN – Melbourne’s home of sport – to see what people were saying about him.
“I do enjoy the footy news and if I don’t consume it, my dad’s the first to call me up because he’s an avid SEN listener,” Shiel told SEN Afternoons.
“The one thing I did do on the way to training one morning, the old man’s calling me up and telling me a few things.
“I kept telling him I don’t care and that I’m trying to focus on the week to week games
“I downloaded the SEN app which was a rookie error because first thing I do is listen to it and they’re talking about the value of myself as a player and you guys opened up the lines to the public and they just slammed me.
“So I thought okay, and turned off the radio!” Shiel said, tongue in cheek.
The 25-year-old’s fate was still up in the air in the dying stages of the trade period and Shiel said if something came out of nowhere and he ended up at one of the other three teams chasing him, he would’ve been okay with it.
“With the four clubs I was looking at, all four were going to be great decisions and Carlton had their strengths, Hawthorn and St Kilda had their strengths and Essendon were just the one that were the better fit for me in the end,” Shiel said.
“I’m happy to say I’m with the Bombers and I’m looking forward to the rest of my career here.”