OLD GUILDFORDIANS
Giant battle to the AFL
Zac Langdon (He 2011-2012)
At 22-years-old at the time, and being classified as a ‘mature-age
recruit’, Old Guildfordian Zac Langdon knew he was potentially
making a last chance attempt at achieving his dream of playing
in the Australian Football League (AFL). Having arguably put in
considerably more ground work than most AFL draft hopefuls, Zac
was still to be confronted with a moment of anguish for his partner
Eli, that would see him nearly pull out of the draft race entirely.
With the 2018 AFL season now at an end, the story of Zac’s debut
season with the GWS Giants tells a tale of hard work, determination
and success for both himself and his partner Eli.
Growing up in the coastal town of Dampier, Zac approached his
parents at the end of Year 10 with the notion of moving to Perth
to attend Guildford Grammar School as a boarding student, all in
hope of expanding his educational and sporting horizons. From the
outset, Zac worked to achieve his initial goal of playing in the 1st
XVIII, which he achieved in 2012. At the completion of his studies,
Zac moved back to Dampier to take up a trade as an electrical
apprentice with Rio Tinto. He returned to his local football club,
the Dampier Sharks, and managed to win the League’s Best and
Fairest award. But Zac’s return to his hometown would only be
temporary, as two years into his apprenticeship he again floated
the idea to his parents of moving back to Perth, this time to purely
pursue his footballing interests. He took six months’ leave from
his apprenticeship to join Claremont Football Club in the West
Australian Football League (WAFL). From that point it became clear
that he wasn’t going to return to Dampier, instead opting to juggle
the demands of his trade and WAFL football for two years, all in the
hope of getting drafted.
Behind the scenes, Zac’s long-
term girlfriend Eli Suleska was
facing a battle of her own.
As a powerful small-forward for the Claremont Tigers, Zac began
by working hard through the pre-seasons and in the reserves
side, battling to earn his league position. After two years he had
managed 25 league games and a Premiership win with the reserves
side, putting together a strong body of work in the WAFL. Moving
toward the end of 2017, Zac was now in contact with a number of
AFL clubs ahead of the AFL National Draft.
In September 2017 and with Pick 56 in the AFL National Draft,
Zac was rewarded for his hard work by being drafted to the GWS
Giants. The first step of his AFL dream had come to fruition. But as
Zac would later reveal to his GWS teammates before his AFL debut,
the moment of being drafted was “bittersweet”.
Behind the scenes, Zac’s long-term girlfriend Eli Suleska was facing
a battle of her own. She had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s
Lymphoma in the lead-up to the 2017 AFL Draft Combine. The
news of diagnosis was “earth-shattering” and Zac grappled with the
decision to move forward with the AFL Draft Combine.
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Zac Langdon. Photographs courtesy of the AFL.
As the couple revealed in an interview on Fox Footy’s ‘On the Mark’,
it was the brave push and support from Eli that saw Zac use the
opportunity of the AFL Draft Combine, being aware that as an older
player, this might be the only chance for him to get drafted.
As Zac moved across the country to Sydney to begin his work with
the GWS Giants, Eli was undergoing four bouts of chemotherapy.
In the lead-up to Round 1 of the 2018 AFL season, Zac had been
impressing with his first pre-season, putting in some encouraging
performances in the JLT Community Series. Then in March 2018,
Zac would receive the best news yet; Eli had beaten cancer.
He had kept Eli’s battle with cancer private from his new GWS
teammates. But as he received the good news over the phone from
Eli, he made the decision to open up to them and tell them about
what the couple had been going through. The news was met with
overwhelming support from the team, which was followed by the
announcement that Zac would be making his AFL debut in Round 1,
2018 against the Western Bulldogs.
The rollercoaster of hard work, determination, strength and support
in the face of devastating news had seen the pair come out the
other side. Zac utilised his maturity and developed an elite fitness in
order to quickly establish himself within the GWS playing group. His
playing style has seen him deliver effective pressure as well as earn
a few goals to his name. His ongoing effort saw him ranked fifth at
GWS for tackles, with an elite average of 4.2 a game. His breakout
performance came in Round 11, 2018 against the Adelaide Crows
that earnt him a nomination for goal-of-the-year. Overall, he managed
20 goals in 19 games from the 2018 home and away season.
Zac’s debut year with the GWS Giants was an overwhelming
experience that has taken him all the way through to the AFL Finals
series, a feat that few first-year players get to experience. With his
foundation of determination to learn, work hard and perform at
an elite level, and with an equally as strong partner by his side, Zac
Langdon’s future within the AFL promises to be an exciting prospect.