Don't hold Dayle's sins against me
South Fremantle midfielder Jarrod Garlett has made it clear he won't follow in the footsteps of troublesome cousin Dayle if he gets an AFL opportunity.
Garlett impressed at the draft combine this week, placing equal fifth in the beep test, recording a time of 10min. 19sec. for the 3km time trial and ranking highly in the clean hands and goal-kicking tests.
Clubs have emphasised the importance of character during the combine and Dayle's decision to quit Hawthorn earlier this year and return home where he has since been charged with aggravated burglary, stealing and stealing a motor vehicle has the Garlett name on recruiters' lips for the wrong reasons.
But Jarrod insists he is a totally different person.
"Me and him used to talk a lot about football, but once he started going downhill, I thought I didn't want to be like that and I didn't want to hang around them sort of people that will distract me on my footy career," Jarrod said.
"I've got a chance to make my choice. I want to go in the right direction. My grandad brought me up right."
Garlett is desperate to make his grandfather proud, having been raised up by his grandparents since he was three months old.
His two brothers and four sisters live with his parents in Tammin and Garlett sees them often, but he was raised in Cockburn.
His grandad, the Rev. Sealin Garlett, is chairman of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress and a minister of Coolbellup's Uniting Church of Australia.
He has instilled a deep religious belief in Jarrod and the midfielder loves the family environment of his church.
The lessons he has learnt from church include the value of hard work. Every morning at 5.30am, Garlett and his grandad head to their local beach for a run.
Garlett covers 6km daily on both hard and soft sand, a gruelling routine he has undertaken since he was nine. He hopes that will make a difference when clubs are making selections at next month's draft.
"Grandad said I needed to have miles in my legs and have to be as fit as I can be," Garlett said.
"Grandad has been really disciplined with me so I can work hard and achieve the things that I work hard for."
