AFL PLAYERS are pretty wary of the media when they first start out.

With more opportunities to speak in front of cameras, on the radio or to newspaper journos, you slowly get used to it. But it can still be tough.

Today, new draftees are really drilled. When they come into the system, they almost do a football apprenticeship and the media component of that is pretty big.

Back when I was drafted in 2001, we didn't really have any formal media training.

The club did its best to educate the first-year guys but at Geelong, most of us younger blokes didn’t do a whole lot of media apart from the initial stuff when we arrived.

In my early days – and I know a lot of young guys would be the same – I was just so conscious of what I was saying.

I was worried that I'd say the wrong thing or sound a bit foolish. That's probably why the media gets bombarded with clichés.

Guys can be worried about saying something and having it taken out of context, or inadvertently adding fuel to a topic when they didn't really mean to.

I've never really said enough to create too much interest as I'm usually a quiet sort of fella. I've gained a little bit more confidence but I’m certain my comments are far more conservative than some AFL players.

My experiences have all been pretty positive although I'm certainly not the kind of character who makes headline-grabbing comments. That won't change.

After I won the Brownlow I found something that occurred wasn't all that tactful, but I've since moved on.

People say players are public property and we deserve whatever comes our way – that exposure is part of the job. But I just reckon that every now and then a little bit of class doesn't go astray.

The difference in the coverage a player or team receives when they're struggling compared to when they're going well is also pretty astonishing.

Down at Geelong, there certainly weren't as many news crews making the trip for Mark Thompson's weekly press conference towards the end of 2006 as what there was 12 months later.

No surprise, but I think players feel that if people in the media have been bold enough to say someone's career is over, you’ve got to admit you were wrong when they're back playing well.

Positive media is a lot better to be around than the negative stuff which seemed to be pretty prevalent at the Cats in '06.

In the past, we used to lump all the media commitments onto the captain but we've tried to get better at that, even though Tommy Harley still probably does do more than any other player.

We have some guys at the club who really don’t like doing media stuff. And we might have a joke in the change-rooms when we see a teammate in the paper twice in the same week.

We're all aware of the huge positives of building relationships and that the media plays a big role in our great game.

TV rights and broadcast deals are vital in generating massive dollars, which in turn helps everyone.

Players certainly respect that the media has got a job to do. But, like everything, it’s a two-way street.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.