"WHAT’S it like?" Adam Schneider expected to be asked that question a fair bit when he moved from Sydney to St Kilda last spring, and he hasn’t been let down.
The "it" to which his new teammates refer is, of course, being part of an AFL premiership. And when those new colleagues are part of a club that has tasted the ultimate just once in 111 seasons of league football, and not for 42 years, they’re going to come thick and fast, even with a couple of other flag-winning recruits beside him in former Swan Sean Dempster and Geelong’s Steven King to help answer.
"A lot of the boys bring it up all the time, it’s quite amazing," Schneider says. "They pick your brain a fair bit because you’ve been there . . . 'what do you do to win one?' and 'how do you build up to it?' and stuff. "One of the biggest things I’ve noticed here is how hungry they are to ask about it and find out, because they know how close they’ve been. It’s great to see them still striving for something like that, and if there’s anything I can say to help them be better in any way, I will."
And Schneider, his preseason work thorough and impressing his new club, has already spent the best part of six months doing what he can to make himself better, too.
The motivation was twofold. "My first goal when I got down here was to earn the respect of the boys," he says. "I just wanted to get among the team and feel part of it, and the only way you can do that is through hard work. Now I’ve set that up, it’s about doing it on game day to get that respect from players and supporters.
"It’s a funny thing, respect. It can take a while to get it, but you can lose it in a day. Hopefully, I can just keep building it up."
Along with building up his internal "motor", a prime motivator for him, the sizeable reward for doing so is a far more meaningful role in his team’s midfield set-up than what Schneider has been used to. Getting serious time in the engine room wasn’t always that easy at Sydney, given the track record and consistency of the likes of Brett Kirk, Jude Bolton, Nic Fosdike and Luke Ablett.
Perversely, Schneider had created something of a rod for his own back with his proven goalkicking ability. "I was pigeon-holed as a forward pocket up there, and they had such a great midfield structure that was very hard to break into," he says.
"This was just more of an opportunity to try something new . . . maybe get up on a wing for half a game, and just get in the midfield a bit more and run around, use the things you grew up doing."
Schneider’s first summer with St Kilda has given him the chance, despite hurdles along the way, a thumb operation last November and a quad strain in January. That kept him from making his debut in the Saints’ first two NAB Cup games. But when he was finally unveiled in last week’s semi-final against Essendon, the impact of that time out had clearly been minimal.
In just on an hour on the ground, Schneider picked up plenty of the ball, used it well, and chipped in also with a smartly roved crumb and left-foot snap for an important goal.
In tonight’s grand final against Adelaide, that form and a game under his belt, he can expect a little more time still in the thick of it. As a pointer to St Kilda’s greater depth and flexibility now, Schneider’s first game in new colours was instructive.
On a personal level, he felt comfortable among his new teammates, and, importantly, he felt fit. As do all of the Saints, many of whom, Schneider says, have run personal best times at some stage in the past few months.
It’s another feather in the cap for highly rated strength and conditioning coach Dave Misson, another arrival from Sydney whose presence at Moorabbin along, of course, with former Swans assistant and now St Kilda boss Ross Lyon, Schneider says was a major factor in convincing him a move to Moorabbin was right.
For a club bedevilled by injuries for the past three seasons and continual debate about its fitness programs, Misson’s arrival has been as important as that of any player.
Schneider explains why. "Dave just understands every individual player’s body," he says. "If you’re a bit sore, he’ll be aware of that and pull back a little bit if he has to, and at the other end, he knows if you need more work as well.
"He’s very smart, and he’s constantly learning stuff. I know he’s travelled to Germany and places like that just to further his education. The boys have all mentioned that training has been a lot harder than in the past, but they’ve all enjoyed it."
Schneider was a big part of Sydney's renowned durability, missing only two games in the past two seasons, and while he concedes luck does play a part in runs with injury, it's not the whole story.
"With Dave, the little things are pretty big here, like recovery, he said.
"After games, we've spent two or three days on the beaches, the ice baths, getting massage and physio.
"And we've got three physios now, just to make sure everyone can get that extra bit, so you're not feeling sore going into a training session."
Neither can Schneider speak highly enough of his new coach, quick to convince him he had a big future at another club when his old one dropped the bombshell that the premiership player was to be traded, while he was on holiday in Bali.
"He's got a very well-set-out plan for us, which doesn't just rely on one or two but the whole 22, and he's very dedicated to it," Schneider said.
"He lets his emotions go at times when he gets over-excited, but I reckon that's good. He can spit the dummy, but it's always behind closed doors, and he knows when to give the boys a rev up and when they need a bit of a break as well."
Schneider, living with teammate Xavier Clarke just five minutes down the road from Moorabbin in Highett, reckons he's adjusted to Melbourne well, although he's not relishing the prospect of colder winters, nor having to finally wear the occasional jumper after five years.
But it's an easier place to find your way around than Sydney, he says, and being immersed in a football culture is a buzz.
"We've actually had some people down here watching us train. I don't think we ever had that in Sydney, even when we made the grand final," he said with a laugh.
And perhaps it's also nice to be used by your new teammates as a source of information about football's ultimate prize, a badge of honour that never fades.
"It's three years down the track, but I had a phone call from (Swans premiership ruckman) Jason Ball the other day, and we had a little chat about it even then," Schneider said.
"It's something I'm proud of, and which I'll never forget."
Schneider jokes about keeping his "Bloods" tattoo on his left ankle strapped up all year at his new footballing home, then comes up with a better idea. "I'll just get another one in the future." This one, hopefully, featuring some black with the red and white.
