Dandenong Stingrays midfielder Harry De Mattia is the latest of many young stars to have the tough choice between cricket or an AFL career.
Will Sutherland, Brett Deledio, Alex Keath, Nathan Murphy and Luke Hodge are other names that were faced with the call and unlike others in recent years, De Mattia has chosen the football path.
De Mattia says missing a pair of football seasons due to COVID made him realise how much he loved the game, which ultimately played a big part in his decision to pursue the Sherrin over the willow.
“Ever since lockdown, those couple of seasons of footy that I missed, that's when I realised that's what I want to do over cricket,” De Mattia told SEN Breakfast.
“I guess it came down to more the love and the passion of the game. I've been really grateful for my cricket.
“If it wasn't for that I wouldn't be in this position with my football with the mental side of the game and probably the leadership side of the game and helping develop the people around me as well.
“That was a big focus for me this year which brought into my football as well. They're probably the couple of reasons why I went down the footy path.”
While De Mattia was always a star junior footballer for Edithvale-Aspendale and went on to captain both the Dandenong Stingrays and Vic Country this year, he was known even more as a cricketer throughout his teenage years.
The 18-year-old represented both Victoria and Australia as a junior and he believes his experiences learned in those environments ultimately helped his footy.
“At a young age in under 13s I was playing indoor cricket for Australia and was lucky enough to captain that,” De Mattia said.
“Ever since going on from there, I was playing under 15 state cricket, under 17 state cricket and under 19 state cricket.
“I was in the Australian under-19 squad last year, which was a really good experience and it's very similar to the football side of things at state level.
“It's very up to you the individual to get the best out of yourself and the team around you.
“I guess that's where it's springboarded with my leadership side of the game, as well as helping develop the people around me.”
Perhaps his biggest cricket achievement didn’t come with the bat or ball in hand, but instead, the drinks as De Mattia was chosen as a 17-year-old to sub-field and run the drinks for Australia in the 2022 Boxing Day Test.
De Mattia made plenty of trips to the middle as David Warner made a double-century in blistering heat and the youngster says he’ll never forget the unique experience.
“I was lucky enough last year when I was at nationals in the under 19s to get the call to come back and sub-field for the Aussies in the Boxing Day Test,” De Mattia said.
“That's something I'll never forget. It's always been a dream to pull on the baggy green, that’s about as close to it as you can get.”
De Mattia says there was no pressure heaped on him from figureheads for either sport but revealed that he did speak to both South Australia and Tasmania before deciding to go down the footy path.
“They were really supportive. They were always like, ‘Just go where your heart lies and do both for as long as possible’,” De Mattia explained.
“At the start of the year, there was a little bit of chat with Cricket South Australia and Cricket Tasmania but that never went any really further.
“It was my draft year and I kind of wanted to give it every chance possible to get drafted.
“There was a bit of talk, but at the end of the day, they just said, the door's always open if I decide to go down the footy path and in years to come if footy doesn't work out (I could come back to cricket).”
As well as getting a taste of international cricket with Australia, De Mattia saw what life could be like as an AFL footballer after spending time at Melbourne during the 2023 season.
De Mattia tried to make the most of his experience at the club by picking the brains of several Demons stars.
“It was a really special experience,” De Mattia said. “The training side of things was second to none.
“The boys tried to get around me, I tried to sit next to different blokes each day.
“Jake Lever, Steven May, Jake Melksham, Clayton Oliver, Trent Rivers and all those different types of guys that play in various roles throughout the team and I’d kind of just pick how they go about it.”
The midfielder/forward has been ranked at number 20 in Cal Twomey’s Phantom Form Guide on AFL.com.au.