Even as Henry Schade settles into his new life in Melbourne, preparing to move into an apartment in Toorak this week, his mother is never far from his mind. Henry was just nine when his mum Fiona died. Now 23, and having joined his second AFL club late last year, he is excited about what 2017 might offer. But whether in his native Tasmania, his home of five years at the Gold Coast Suns, or now as a rookie at Collingwood, Fiona is still a presence.
"It's something you never forget about," Henry says.
"It's been a while now but it's definitely something you think about a lot."
Henry's dad Steven remarried, and is in Melbourne this weekend with Henry's stepmum Julie to help with a trip to IKEA and the job of moving in. Henry now compares his own family to The Brady Bunch, with Julie's son and daughter having joined Henry and full sister Emily, who is away studying in England. It's clear family plays a big part in the new Magpie's life. It was Steven who called Henry 30 seconds after Collingwood selected him November's rookie draft. "He couldn't get a word out," Henry recalls. "So I said 'just call me back in five minutes'."
His father's giddiness was understandable because the previous couple of months had been tough for his son. After creeping to 20 games in five years Schade was still contracted to Gold Coast for 2017, but behind established key backs Steven May and Rory Thompson, and having played just five senior games in 2016, he was delisted after the season as the club cleared list space for its bumper draft haul.
The Suns had to commit to picking Schade up as a rookie if no one else jumped first, but while knowing that he would definitely have a place on an AFL list this year reduced his stress to an extent, it also left him in a bizarre place early in the pre-season. Schade continued to train with Gold Coast, a club that had openly made him expendable. While he understands why the Suns acted as they did, it was hard for Schade not to feel like he was there by default. "It was a tough month or two leading up to the rookie draft at the Suns, feeling a bit out of place with them saying 'we're not sure if we're going to go with you'."
Having lost Nathan Brown, Jack Frost and Jonathon Marsh in the space of weeks, Collingwood's key defensive stocks had been left skinnier than a teenage ruckman. It became an area the Pies desperately needed to address, and so in came Melbourne veteran Lynden Dunn via the trade period, and tall utility Sam McLarty through the national draft. Still there was room for another mature tall backman. Schade fit the bill.
Schade said several clubs had enquired about him following his delisting, with Collingwood recruiting chief Derek Hine first making contact in mid-November. "There were no promises made. I was just hopeful that it would happen, and they were just getting to know me and my background, and how I would play my game."
Schade had organised with Suns fitness coach Justin Cordy to train earlier on the day of the rookie draft, allowing him to head home in time to watch the no-frills selection meeting on his laptop. He says that as he turned on his computer he had "no idea" which AFL club would be his home half an hour later. "I'd obviously spoken to Collingwood a bit before the rookie draft, so there was a bit going on behind the scenes, but I wasn't confident at all," Schade said.
"I tried not to get too stressed about it, which wasn't an easy task to be honest."
But the nerves turned to excitement when the Pies chose him at pick 24, coincidentally the same selection number at which he became a Gold Coast player in the 2011 draft. That contact from his dad came first. Then the calls started from Pies coaches and players. By the next afternoon – a Tuesday – Henry was on a plane to Melbourne. On the Wednesday he was training with his new teammates.
It meant a rapid departure from his life sharing an apartment with Suns teammate Aaron Hall. "We were really lucky, we had a guy managing our building and he was really good about it, so there was no stress from that perspective."
It was a tough month or two leading up to the rookie draft at the Suns, feeling a bit out of place.
Henry Schade.
Collingwood helped in transporting his possessions from the Gold Coast, and Schade's transition to Melbourne life was eased further by the presence of an uncle, aunt and cousins, with whom he has lived temporarily in Box Hill.
Not that Schade walked into a club full of familiar faces. Of all those on the Pies' list, he knew only James Aish, who he met while the midfielder was doing a placement at the Suns as an underage player. But everything is relative. He came to the Suns as an 18-year-old who'd never had a job, and wasn't accustomed to cooking or cleaning. "I had to learn a lot pretty quickly. I pretty much grew up there, from being a young kid to being 23 now. It was a long time, but it goes pretty quickly."
Five years on, having toiled in many more NEAFL games than he would have liked, he knows first-hand that a place on an AFL list is only temporary. "I think the industry's pretty brutal. There's a lot of turnover each year at clubs."
He is preparing for what comes next as he closes in on the end of an accounting degree which he jokes he should be finished by around the age of 40. "It's nice to know that whenever footy ends, which is going to happen one day, that I've got something as a backup plan."
But that part of his life remains secondary for now. Having been "unsettled" during his last few weeks at the Suns, Schade says he has been revitalised by Collingwood's belief in his ability. "It's given me a second wind of motivation."
He's getting to know the game plan with backline coach Robert Harvey and knows there are spots there for the taking. "I'd like to back myself in, without being too confident I guess. It's that fine line."
Despite having joined the behemoth that is Collingwood though, Schade says he is yet to be recognised on the streets, a state of affairs he'd be happy to preserve. Schade hasn't even formally met club president Eddie McGuire. The pair briefly crossed paths at training but Schade chose not to introduce himself given he was "sweating bullets" at the time. But set to be a resident of Toorak, a chance meeting walking around the neighbourhood could be on the cards.
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