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IT'S moments before the first bounce as Fremantle lines up against the reigning premier at Subiaco Oval.
Captain Matthew Pavlich calls the Dockers into a huddle and addresses the players, who have linked arms in a circle. "Enjoy the moment. Enjoy winning the hard ball. Hey! Put on your Superman capes, boys. It's wharfie time. Let's go!''
To the wider football community, that speech during a Round 8, 2009, match against Hawthorn is an eccentric, almost humorous glimpse of on-field machinations.
THE DEFINITIVE MATTHEW PAVLICH
But to those in the football club's inner sanctum, these are well-chosen and inspirational words.
Dockers people would tell you that they also neatly sum up the characteristics of the finest footballer to have pulled on a boot for Fremantle.
On the one hand, they see "Super Pav'' as a man of steel who possesses rare skills and a total dedication to truth and the Purple Haze way.
On the other, they are proud to have a leader who is prepared to get his hands dirty and whose gritty work ethic resonates with the West Australian port city's working-class origins.
But Superman capes and wharfie time? What's it all about?
Pavlich leads the Dockers onto the field in Round 8 against Port Adelaide. Photo by Morne de Klerk/ Source: Getty Images
SUPER PAV
FORMER Dockers midfielder Paul Hasleby is one of Pavlich's closest mates and played 208 games alongside him.
"The story actually comes from Shaun McManus, who always spoke with great passion about his footy,'' Hasleby explains.
"Shaun spoke (in a team meeting the night before a game in Melbourne) about how whenever we play football we get to pull on the Superman cape and turn into this character that allows us to go out and do anything on the football field.''
McManus, a former Dockers skipper who retired in 2008, takes up the story: "I was of the opinion that when you get to pull on an AFL club jumper, when you are in the changerooms before a game with that nervous energy while you're warming up, once you put that jumper on it is like putting on a Superman cape.
"It's like getting the opportunity to be a superhero for a day. It's an honour. You put that jumper on and you feel like a million bucks because you're representing a whole tribe of people. And you feel indestructible.''
Pavlich's Superman reference came almost two seasons after the McManus analogy.
Defender Luke McPharlin, who was in the huddle, says the players "found it very impressive at the time''.
"Pav had obviously put it in the memory bank and used it on that occasion,'' McPharlin says. "For him to use that a couple of years later was equally powerful, and Pav has always been good at saying what needs to be said in the huddles and during the breaks. He keeps it fresh and a bit different.''
Matt de Boer was playing only his third game, having made his debut a fortnight earlier in a winning derby, which also happened to be Pavlich's 200th game.
"I'm a bit of a comic book man myself, so at the time I think the speech resounded pretty strongly with me,'' de Boer says.
Hasleby agrees: "As a captain, having to come up with speeches at every game is not an easy thing to do, and he just threw that in. But the thing was it was a game when he was being taped (by Channel 7). He got ridiculed a bit for it, but knowing the back story I thought it was a very motivating speech.''
Words are one thing, but all agreed the great aspect of Pavlich's game was that he followed up his words with heroic deeds. "As a leader, it's amazing the number of times he's just willed himself into games and it's changed the fortunes of Fremantle's day,'' McManus says.
"He has the ability to mentally and physically change the state of games. It's 'jump on my shoulders and I'll get you going' sort of stuff. And very few guys can do that."
De Boer agrees Pavlich, a six-time best-and-fairest winner, has a commanding presence. "His playing ability speaks for itself, but I would say his leadership skills rank equal,'' De Boer says.
"Just knowing when to get a temperature check of the boys and knowing how to get the best from the group, there's no doubt that we stand taller with him being out there with us.''
Pavlich celebrates a goal in Round 4 against Essendon. Photo by Daniel Wilkins. PICTURED — Source: News Corp Australia
THE DOCKERS' DOCKER
WHILE Pavlich's talent and athleticism are universally recognised, his teammates say his tenacity and industriousness are underestimated.
He epitomises the "wharfie spirit'' of his 2009 speech.
"So you had the Bloods at the Sydney Swans and we had the wharfie,'' Hasleby explains.
"It was all about our values and standards of behaviour.
"At the time the thinking was that wharfies and how they were hard workers, that was worth adopting into our values.
"To everybody else it probably didn't mean much, but to the players who were kicking around in that environment it meant a hell of a lot.''
McManus says it was "about getting down and getting dirty, let's get into it. It's about recognising our heritage''.
De Boer says the phrase is still relevant in 2014.
"We know we have some significant talent, but that alone doesn't get it done at the end of the day,'' he says.
"So we've really bought into that wharfie terminology and just look to bring that wharfie ethic to games and put the work boots on. And we're quite proud of it.''
All agree Pavlich sets a lofty standard with his work ethic, on and off the ground. They speak of the meticulous detail of his training, preparation and recovery.
"You see him in the ice bins when others have gone home,'' McPharlin says.
De Boer recalls doing a really solid running session on a 40C day during his first pre-season.
"It would have been fair enough for everyone to just pack up and go home to collapse, but then you see Pav pick up a few balls and jog over to the goals and start practising his goalkicking routine and, sure enough, at the next session there were a few more boys joined in, and then a few more the week after that.
"Just seeing what his expectations are and how he's prepared to make the hard decisions to take it to the next level. We're developing a culture where we demand excellence from each other and he really sets the trend for that.''
But his teammates say Pavlich's wharfie spirit is most evident on game day.
Pavlich in action in the Second Qualifying Final against Geelong. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Limited
McPharlin and de Boer speak about a case in point during last year's memorable qualifying final at Geelong.
"It was an enormous effort deep in the last quarter where he ran the length of the field and ended up executing a spoil in our defence,'' McPharlin says.
"It was a crucial contest — probably doesn't get the plaudits of kicking a goal or taking a big mark — but it was a really important play deep in the last quarter when the game was on the line.
"Internally, we recognised it as an outstanding instance of the team ethic that he has exemplified for so long. He's not just one for the flashy things. He also gets to work for the team as well.''
De Boer describes it as "the one act that stands out in my mind from that game''.
"It starts at the top in terms of doing what the team requires and he certainly delivers on that,'' de Boer says.
McManus says the fierce intensity and ability to make an impact has been there since Pavlich's first season, and he pays tribute to how it still shines bright 15 seasons later.
"In probably every game this year, I don't reckon I've seen him in a situation where he's led out from full-forward and someone's just dropped the ball on his chest,'' McManus says.
"He's had to fight, scrap, bite, contest, spoil, tackle. It's just been full-on and he's not the sort of player who just goes up for a grab and that's it, or just kicks the goal and thinks he's the hero. He's there doing the bust and grind like everybody else and that's what makes him such a great leader.
"And as he's got older I reckon he's done even more of that hard work.''
Pavlich at the WACA in 2000. Source: News Limited
PART-Superman, part-wharfie. A six-time All-Australian good enough to be selected in seasons when he played in defence, midfield and up forward.
"There have been some great forwards over his career — Nick and Jack Riewoldt, Brendan Fevola, Jonathan Brown — but none of them have had the ability to go into the midfield and impact games like he did over four or five seasons,'' Hasleby says.
"He could find the football, and every time he got it and had space to kick he could make something happen.
"He had a high goal-assist percentage when he was in the midfield, and we were just instructed to get the ball to him and he would do the rest.''
In that 2009 match against Hawthorn, Pavlich finished with 30 possessions and a goal.
But the Dockers lost. And therein lies the one thing people hold against him.
"I think the only thing holding Pav back, and probably the only reason he's not seen as the greatest player over the past decade, is the inability to get a premiership,'' Hasleby says.
"And, particularly early on in his career when he was perhaps at his best, he didn't get to regularly showcase those skills on the big stage.''
Tonight, against Geelong at Subiaco Oval, he certainly gets the chance to perform on centre stage. Win, and Pavlich and the Dockers might yet be back in the hunt for that elusive premiership.
Pavlich dives for the ball in Round 8 at the Adelaide Oval. Picture Simon Cross Source: News Corp Australia
10 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT PAV
BEFORE he was drafted at the end of 1999, he was not keen on going to the Dockers, so his mother, Jan, wrote out a list of alternative players Fremantle should take ahead of her son (including Darren Glass and Aaron Sandilands).
RUNNING the last of six 1km time-trials at his first Dockers training session, Pavluch collapsed and was carted off in the property van. "He was absolutely fried,'' Shaun McManus recalled. "And he ended up spending a couple of days in intensive care. I thought, 'Great, we've been looking for a key forward for years and now we've killed one in his first session'.''
FOR seven years Pavlich and teammate Paul Hasleby had the Seaview Hotel in South Fremantle. "We got behind the bar a few times," Hasleby said. "He was mainly used as a bit of a marketing tool, although he did get down and dirty and do a bit of cooking from time to time, although he was pretty average.''
PAVLICH crashed his car three or four times in his first two years at Fremantle, including rear-ending teammate Troy Cook.
ACCORDING to Hasleby: "He loves belting out Pearl Jam's Better Man at every opportunity he gets in front of the karaoke machine. He's horrendous.''
PAVLICH does individual yoga sessions with an instructor.
FOOTBALL duties have caused him to fly about 800,000km during his career. Hasleby said: ''For the first 200 games he used to sit in cattle class, but I have no doubt he's up the front in seat 1A these days.''
PAVLICH has a Bachelor of Sports Science and is completing a Master of Business Administration.
HE mentors Chris Mayne and pays special attention to the club's South Australian recruits.
HE is a horse racing fan and was in an ownership syndicate with Carlton's Chris Judd and commentator Dennis Cometti. Their stayer, Cefalu, won a listed race at Moonee Valley the night before the 2008 AFL Grand Final — at odds of $101.
