There’s a certain level of excitement attached to interviewing Bryce Gibbs. Not only has he had more articles written about him recently than the Federal Election, but even as far back as this time last year, the 17 year old Bryce Gibbs was in the headlines across the southern states. But unlike David Cassidy or “Willis” from Different Strokes before him, something tells us the transition from child-star to AFL star will be a smooth one for Bryce. We spent 10 minutes with Bryce this week to ask about the media, his debut against the Tigers and to congratulate him about winning the coveted “Mike and Dan” Play of the Week with that handball.

That handball to Waite…. A very early candidate for Mike and Dan’s “Play of the Century”. Was Waite calling for it, did you go into the throw-in contest with the move in mind, or was it just a moment of brilliance?

Yeah, he was calling for it. I saw his man leave Waitey to be around the contest, and he peeled off and was calling to Fev, who took the throw-in, “I’m free”. But when Fev tapped it down to me I wanted to kick the goal myself! But when I took the ball, the pack rushed at me and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a kick off, so I handballed it over to Waitey who I could still hear calling for it.

In the end it was a more memorable move than if you’d kicked the goal yourself.

Yeah, well Waitey had put himself in a great position so it was a higher percentage shot for him.

Tell us about that first kick and first goal. Commentators love to talk about the first kick and first goal “club”. Setanta is also in that club. Did he shake your hand after the match to welcome you in?

Brett Ratten did actually. He came to me after the game and shook my hand and said that his first kick was a goal, at Princes Park. It’s a good feeling. It’s funny because my first kick with the Glenelg seniors in the SANFL was a goal as well, so there was a bit of symmetry there.

Your Dad Ross once tried to kick his 100 goal of a season in country footy after stripping off to wear only his footy boots. That’s a pretty tough benchmark to beat for goal celebrations. Did you consider anything similar after your first major on the weekend?

I thought about it before the game, and I was going to celebrate with a move my mates back home (in Adelaide) would recognise, you know, something for them, but in the heat of the moment I totally forgot and just ran back into position!

When we interviewed Shaun Grigg a few weeks back he told us that you and he have a plan to celebrate with a move he called the “up and down potato”…. Are you saving that for when you both line-up in the side, or did we blink and miss it on Sunday?

No, we’re definitely saving the “up and down potato” for when we play seniors together. Don’t worry, when we bring it out you’ll notice! We reckon the “up and down potato” will be huge. Everyone will be doing it.

You've stated your ambition to play every game this season. On Sunday you played midfield, forward, and also spent time in defence on Kayne Pettifer. What position or role can you see yourself doing a job in 2007? How about beyond?

This season I’m keen to establish myself on a half-back flank changing on the ball. I spoke to Denis and the match committee about that and they believe it’s a good place to start a career. My goal is to find my feet in the backline this season, but really I’m happy to play anywhere I’m required. I played across the park for Glenelg last season, so I’ve got some experience in any position. For my long-term career I want to establish myself as a starting midfielder. That’s what I’m working toward.

Yeah in the game last week Denis asked me to move back in defence and I started on Chris Hyde, but T-bird asked me to move back on Pettifer because it was a better match up.

Pettifer’s become a very good player for Richmond in the last couple of years, did you find it daunting?

Nah I didn’t think about it to be honest. I just wanted to do a good job, I didn’t really think about who he was. I played quite a bit last year in the backline so I was just trying to concentrate on the play.

In recent interviews, your Dad has mentioned that as your junior coach, he wouldn't let you kick to try and bring other players in. Did you ever find that difficult? What was the toughest of your Dad's instructions?

He was really big on me being a team player, but yeah it was a few of us actually that he would encourage to bring other players into the game. In my junior footy we had a few good players in our team and he set those kinds of rules for all of us, because he wanted everyone on the team to get a go and have fun, and he wanted the better players who were serious about footy to learn to play for the team first. I’ve chatted to some of my team-mates from junior footy about this and they reckon he was the toughest coach they’ve played under, but because I lived with him I was used to his ways!

The main thing for me was I didn’t want to seem to be getting a game because my dad was the coach, so I always worked twice as hard to get the respect of my team mates.

Mike and Dan haven't been picked first for anything since "least likely to succeed" at High School. What’s it like to go number 1 and be top of the class?

It’s a great honour, but it didn’t bother me either way. I just wanted to get picked up. A lot of people told us that getting drafted was the easy part, and they were right! All the hard work comes in the pre-season where everyone’s equal.

Rumour has it there were a few of your 2007 draft peers at the Dome for the Essendon game to get a good look at your NAB cup debut. What players in the last draft did you enjoy watching? Who were you glad to see also picked up by the Blues?

Definitely my mate Mark Austin. It was great to have him come to Carlton and share this experience with me. He and I have been mates for years and went to the same school back in Adelaide. We’re also great mates with James Sellar, who was picked by Adelaide. He was only a few picks away from maybe coming to Carlton too! But I was rapt for him to be able to stay in Adelaide.

Of the blokes who were taken by other clubs, Joel Selwood (who was pick 7 and debuted for Geelong on the weekend) really caught my eye as a guy who knows where he wants to go. I meet him last year at the championships with some of the Vic Country guys. He wasn’t playing (he was injured), but he was there to support his team-mates, and he impressed me with his focus on training and working hard. Before my debut last week he actually messaged me on my phone to wish me good luck, which was really nice of him.

I hope this doesn’t mean you’ll go easy on him on the Saturday night if you line up on him!

Nah, he’ll just be an opponent if that happens!

Well, on Mark Austin, when Mike and Dan interviewed him a few weeks back we asked him for some dirt on you, and his answer was: “No, no secrets from me. He’ll look after me when you guys speak to him…”… care to prove him wrong with some secrets about Mark Austin?

Yeah, I can give you something. Let’s just say he’s magic on the dance-floor when the song “Shiney Disco Balls” comes on. He loves it.

He doesn’t do the “up and down potato” does he?

Nah mate. He’s got his own “special” dance he likes to do to that song… I can’t say any more!

Who are your idols at the club? Who do you look up to? I bet having S. Kernahan written on your locker is a pretty inspiring thing. Is there anyone else who "wow"s you?

Definitely Nick Stevens. He’s the sort of player I want to be in the future. With his dedication to training and his behaviour on and off the field, he’s a great role model and I strive to be seen in that sort of way for my career. He’s always doing extra running or weights work at training, and being a starting midfielder which is the role I want to play in the team in future, he’s definitely a great example.

Murph as well because he’s so good at such a young age. And he’s been through the whole pick 1 thing which means he’s a great person I can talk to and learn from.

I actually first met Sticks growing up because he and dad played together for Glenelg, so I’ve known him all my life. It’s a great honour to be playing for the same club as Sticks and to wear his number.

There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with your eligibility to play for Adelaide under the father-son rule. Did that affect you?

Not really. There was a lot of publicity about it and a lot of stuff in the media about it back in Adelaide. I just stopped reading the papers or listening to the radio, it was getting ridiculous. I just placed a big emphasis on getting a kick with Glenelg, and my family and friends helped me stay focussed and not thinking about it anyway.

Well we couldn't do an interview with you without talking about the "go home" factor. Have you met a nice, demanding Melbourne girl yet who would never leave Melbourne and is expecting you to stick around?

Let me just say there are a lot of good-looking women in Melbourne! At the moment I’m concentrating on footy, but you never know what might happen in the future.

After the interview, we were glad we can tick the box on Bryce not only being a great young player, but a decent bloke as well. Mike and Dan are now just eagerly awaiting more trick handballs, and the debut of Shaun Grigg so they can finally unleash the “up and down potato”!