By JARROD POTTER
LEADERSHIP qualities are hard to attain at any age, especially at the elite level.
Most players just try to hold onto their AFL spots and establish themselves in the regular side, let alone think about what they can do to support the rest of the group.
So for 22-year-old Matthew Buntine to make the leap into the leadership group at Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is an extraordinary sign of his calibre and standing among the players on and off the field.
Buntine, originally from Berwick, has been a perennial leader throughout his time in junior football, culminating in 2011 as Dandenong Stingrays’ captain.
That consistency approach to football – vocal and active – Buntine takes hasn’t gone unseen at the AFL level either as the Giants placed the foundation defender in the seven-man group for 2016.
“It was a bit of a surprise to me,” Buntine said. “Leon (GWS coach Leon Cameron) brought me in and said the peers and coaches were happy for me to move up into it and I’m stoked to be in the group now.
“I’ve really enjoyed leadership roles back in the junior days, but since I’ve been at the club it’s been a bit of a focus to just get my football right and get a few games under my belt.
“But the way in which I’ve gone about my preparation and voiced my opinions has held me in good stead to be noticed a little bit by the peers and get this elevation.”
Buntine looks to his current AFL captains Phil Davis and Callan Ward as prime examples of what leaders at a young age can achieve and he wants to build on the foundations they’ve set for Greater Western Sydney.
“The Giants are a pretty new type of club with the amount of youth that’s here, so as much as being young and in that position as you can see Phil (Davis) and Cal (Ward) have been our leaders from day dot here when they were 22, 23-year-olds,” Buntine said. “(Davis and Ward) were more or less thrown into the role early days and they’ve become fantastic leaders now and that’s something I look forward to through the responsibility of being in the leadership group.”
The leadership group addition also solidifies Buntine’s spot on the list and shows the Giants are keen to keep him around despite his tough start to his life in football – playing 27 games in four seasons including a long spell on the sidelines from a punctured lung.
But Buntine’s approach remains team-first and he has devoted himself to pushing the team ethos and building the strength of the side as a whole.
“It’s a great reinforcement of the things you do around the club day in, day out and the way you prepare and perform,” Buntine said. “Really encouraging to get those views from players and coaches.
“Certainly I’ve got some individual goals – I want to play a big chunk of games throughout the season, as 12 has been my most, so I’d love to get a fair few games under my belt this year.
“But primarily the team obviously and I’d love to be a key player and driving us towards those finals.”
Buntine’s GWS Giants take on Melbourne on Saturday afternoon at the MCG in the first round of the 2016 AFL season.
He doesn’t pretend the march up the ladder will be easy this year, but believes there’s a squad in place to feature in GWS’s inaugural final.
“We have high expectations this year, but it’s a tough competition and we hope to be really competitive in every game and really hope we can come out with enough wins to play in the finals,” Buntine said.
“We’re under no illusion how hard that will be, but hopefully we will pay some exciting football and football that wins games is the most important thing for us.”
