Connor Rozee's eye-opening admission about family ahead of Port Adelaide's AFL finals clash
Rozee and his fiancee Maisie welcomed baby daughter Audrey in May.
Port Adelaide captain Connor Rozee says becoming a father has helped turn him into a better player and has credited his baby girl with helping him grow as a leader at the AFL club. Rozee and his fiancee Maisie welcomed their first child together in May - a baby daughter named Audrey.
And the 24-year-old heads into his first AFL finals campaign as a father and captain of the team full of confidence. Rozee will lead his Power side in Thursday night's qualifying final against Geelong at Adelaide Oval and says becoming a parent has helped him switch off between games, enjoy time with family, and approach his footy with a level of freshness and energy that he's never had before.
Rozee admits the pressure to perform and expectations that players put on themselves and their team can be burdensome at times. But the new father says his three-month-old girl has given him a fresh perspective on life that has made his time at Port Adelaide even "more enjoyable" and helped him forge stronger bonds with teammates who are also fellow parents.
"It just gives you that balance," Rozee said ahead of Port's home qualifying final against the Cats. "It does feel like the (AFL) pressure - and even though it's inside our heads, pressure is something we make up a little bit - but it does feel like life-and-death sometimes with comments from external people.
"The end of the year especially, when things can go either way and you know your season could be over week-to-week, being able to go home and completely switch off and not think about football for a while has been amazing. It just makes you grateful for everything, really. And it's made coming in here (to Port's Alberton headquarters) even more enjoyable.
"And being able to bond a little bit closer with the guys that have kids as well has been great." Rozee took over the Port captaincy when Tom Jonas retired at the end of last season and was joined in the leadership group by the likes of vice-captain Zak Butters, Dan Houston, Sam Powell-Pepper and Willem Drew.
Connor Rozee says teammates have helped with captaincy
The 24-year-old says the support of his teammates and especially some of the senior members of the squad has made his transition to captaincy that much easier. Rozee singled out a pair of former club captains in Travis Boak and Ollie Wines for the support they've offered him both on and off the field and said he'd love to be able to repay them by leading the Power to premiership glory in 2024.
"They've been amazing, it's great to have two previous captains still here," Rozee said. "It's a massive benefit for myself personally (and) our leadership group as a whole, because it is our first time for all of us being in a leadership position. It's small things really, certain conversations, how you're not sure to approach a certain person, or how the group in general is feeling.
"I feel really comfortable to be able to go to either of them (Boak and Wines) and ask them pretty much anything about leadership or away from football. I have got a great relationship with both of those guys and hopefully we can bring some success to those guys because they definitely deserve it."
Rozee says he plans to share some of the key takeaways of becoming a new father with his teammates before the Power's finals clash with the Cats on Thursday night. Central to the skipper's message will be to treat it like a regular season game and stick to the game plan that has worked so effectively across the season and helped them finish second on the ladder.
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"(I'll) just be preaching that this is (just) another game," he said. "We know what has got us to this point: we have beaten a lot of good sides this year, we have stood up in some big moments. And it certainly goes to another level in finals, definitely. But my personal approach to the situation will be to try and calm everyone down a bit.
"To achieve our ultimate goal, we're going to have to beat some really good sides. There will some pump-up from everyone, externally and internally, but at the end of the day it is another game of football." The Power will be without the suspended Dan Houston and the injured Kane Farrell (hamstring) for the finals clash with the Cats, having narrowly beaten Geelong away the last time the two sides met.
AFL week one finals schedule:
Second qualifying final: Port Adelaide v Geelong - Thursday September 5, Adelaide Oval, 7.40pm
Second elimination final: Western Bulldogs v Hawthorn - Friday September 6, MCG, 7.40pm
First qualifying final: Sydney v GWS - Saturday September 7, SCG, 3.20pm
First elimination final: Brisbane Lions v Carlton - Saturday September 7, Gabba, 7.30pm
