“IT’S FAIR to say I was a long way from playing AFL.”
If you ask anyone how they feel about achieving any games milestone at AFL level, a common response would be “if you had have told me at the start of my career I would play that many, I wouldn’t have believed you”.
And yet in Nic Newman’s case, you know it’s genuine.
The conventional pathway to AFL is being drafted as an 18-year-old. At that age, Newman was largely playing in the now-defunct VFL Reserves for Frankston, seemingly a world away from AFL football. One year later, he had won the Fothergill-Round Medal as the VFL’s brightest young prospect.
It looked as though an AFL chance was just around the corner when he was recruited to Sydney at the 2014… as it turned out, there was another two-year wait, before earning the nod for Round 2, 2017 in the same game as Will Hayward.
“I like to think I’ve earned a fair few of the 150,” Newman told Carlton Media this week.
“I’m pretty proud of my journey and my story. I like to think as hard as that period was, it’s helped me prolong my career a bit more and get the best out of myself as I got a bit older. It’s all part of the journey, isn’t it?
“I had to learn, and I had to learn some harsh lessons at times.”
The setbacks weren’t done yet. Returning to Melbourne in 2018 to become a Blue, Newman played 20 games in his first season at Carlton, proving himself to be an astute pick-up.
Fast forward to the first game of 2020, Newman dislocated his elbow in the season opener against Richmond at an empty MCG. During the COVID shutdown period, Newman’s incredibly diligent recovery saw him available for the next game when the season resumed two months later… only to rupture his patella tendon in his first quarter of football.
History repeated itself in 2025, when on the back of two career-best seasons, Newman suffered the same fate in a January pre-season session.
“It’d be nice to be playing 250 or 300, I do think that sometimes. I’ve had four years on a list where I basically didn’t play a game - but they’re equally as important as some of the years I’ve played 20 games.
“Having to grind through and work my way into the team has held me in good stead, and with the injuries, it’s given me some great perspective on the enjoyment side of things… you might not see it as much as others, but I do love coming to work every day.
“I love what I do, I love the Club, I love the environment.”
In Newman’s mind, enjoyment comes in different forms. So too does maturity.
Hailed as the dad of certain members of the playing group, Newman is highly regarded for his leadership around the Club, but also his ability to connect with just about everyone - that extends to the wider Newman clan, with wife Samantha and daughter Audrey.
Despite being referred to as ‘Fossil’, Newman tries to take in his stride… even despite the likes of Messrs Cowan, Cottrell and Carroll analysing his every move.
“It’s what I love about this environment: while I am 33, I still have a lot of fun and they keep me young. That’s a great part of what we do.
“As you get older, you understand how privileged we are to do what we love for a job. As much as I don’t often show enjoyment on game day, that is my favourite part of the week. When it gets taken away from you, especially at my age where you question if you’ll get back there, it’s something that I try to not take for granted.”
