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Schneider finds a mentor
By Jessica Halloran
Adelaide
September 07 2003
Every game is hard for Paul Kelly. He gets onto the field, but admits he'd much rather be ferociously chasing the football like he used to.
Instead, there's a kid out there, all of 19, who is showing the same toughness that endeared Kelly to the red-and-white fans. Bending through freakish goals and throwing his body into the contest with all his might.
His name is Adam Schneider, a rookie who has managed to play all of the Swans' 22 games this year.
Kelly and the "Schneiderman" have a firm friendship, and the former captain and now runner for the club has become a mentor.
"He's going all right," Kelly says with a cheeky smile.
Schneider and Kelly never had the opportunity to play together. Last year, the rookie's body was riddled with glandular fever, and his legs were plagued by stress fractures.
Kelly soldiered on through a tumultuous year that featured a change of coaches and culminated in his emotional retirement.
As they shared a morning coffee yesterday, Kelly turned to the young player and said: "It was (a) bit unfortunate that you didn't get to play much in that first year, because of your stresses and sickness and all that . . ."
Schneider adds to the end of Kelly's sentence: "I wasn't happy last year, I wasn't playing footy, I was homesick and everything."
Whenever there's time, Schneider and Kelly meet up to just hang out.
They are friends, both country boys from districts near Wagga, who have had to adjust to the rush of Sydney life. "Just two blokes having a chat," Kelly says.
"We both come from the same area, we have the same interests and that. We talk about the same schools and the same footy teams and what's going on down there. That's why it's probably come about, and we don't even talk about footy sometimes."
Schneider likes being able to just talk about life away from the game.
"That's one of the better things; we'll just chat about home, that's the best thing. It's probably good to get away from it sometimes," Schneider says. Sometimes he'll look after Kelly's kids, like he did the other day.
"They took control of me," Schneider laughs. "That's another thing - I don't have any family up here. It's good to be around kids; I don't have any rellies up here."
By Jessica Halloran
Adelaide
September 07 2003
Every game is hard for Paul Kelly. He gets onto the field, but admits he'd much rather be ferociously chasing the football like he used to.
Instead, there's a kid out there, all of 19, who is showing the same toughness that endeared Kelly to the red-and-white fans. Bending through freakish goals and throwing his body into the contest with all his might.
His name is Adam Schneider, a rookie who has managed to play all of the Swans' 22 games this year.
Kelly and the "Schneiderman" have a firm friendship, and the former captain and now runner for the club has become a mentor.
"He's going all right," Kelly says with a cheeky smile.
Schneider and Kelly never had the opportunity to play together. Last year, the rookie's body was riddled with glandular fever, and his legs were plagued by stress fractures.
Kelly soldiered on through a tumultuous year that featured a change of coaches and culminated in his emotional retirement.
As they shared a morning coffee yesterday, Kelly turned to the young player and said: "It was (a) bit unfortunate that you didn't get to play much in that first year, because of your stresses and sickness and all that . . ."
Schneider adds to the end of Kelly's sentence: "I wasn't happy last year, I wasn't playing footy, I was homesick and everything."
Whenever there's time, Schneider and Kelly meet up to just hang out.
They are friends, both country boys from districts near Wagga, who have had to adjust to the rush of Sydney life. "Just two blokes having a chat," Kelly says.
"We both come from the same area, we have the same interests and that. We talk about the same schools and the same footy teams and what's going on down there. That's why it's probably come about, and we don't even talk about footy sometimes."
Schneider likes being able to just talk about life away from the game.
"That's one of the better things; we'll just chat about home, that's the best thing. It's probably good to get away from it sometimes," Schneider says. Sometimes he'll look after Kelly's kids, like he did the other day.
"They took control of me," Schneider laughs. "That's another thing - I don't have any family up here. It's good to be around kids; I don't have any rellies up here."
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