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Krakouer drops 30kg and finds his hunger

Nathan Krakouer reckons he’s pretty lucky.

In 2013 Krakouer was playing in the reserves for Kambalda in the Goldfields Football League on Sundays and working 10-12 hour days doing manual labour in Leonora during the week.

His weight had ballooned to about 110kg and the AFL career he walked away from at the end of 2011 after just one season with the Gold Coast Suns was a distant memory.

“I did let myself go a little bit there,” Krakouer said.

“Sometimes after working I would find myself having a few drinks just to settle down after a long day and obviously I wasn’t worrying about the diet and that sort of stuff because I wasn’t in any professional team.

“It was just more about having a bit of fun and having a few drinks after work and after games on a weekend.”

Krakouer trained with WAFL club Claremont and then South Fremantle after leaving the Suns but found he didn’t have the passion to stick it out.

But after heading to Perth at the end of the 2013 season, Krakouer received a phone call that started him on a journey which has him on the verge of a remarkable comeback to the top level.

The call came from the club which had originally drafted him, Port Adelaide, and where he played 40 of his 53 games, offering him a lifeline at SANFL team, the Port Adelaide Magpies.

“I got that phone call and I was just thinking: ‘What am I doing with myself?’,” he said.

“At the time I was thinking: ‘Well I’m only 25 still so I’ll go over and give it a crack and have a decent crack at SANFL level just to see what I’ve got.’”

Krakouer went back to South Australia on the condition he would meet certain fitness requirements and ended up polling in the best and fairest in 12 of the 16 games he played.

“It wasn’t just to come here just to make up the numbers,” Krakouer said. “I found it better that they gave me some challenges — get the weight down, the skinfolds down, have some targets and that sort of stuff.

“It did end up helping me stay out on the field.

“If I had stayed overweight I wouldn’t have been playing in the senior side in the SANFL, I would have been back in the academy.”

That effort was enough to convince the Power to put Krakouer on their rookie list this season.

He played the first half of Port’s opening NAB Challenge match against West Coast and then a full game against Richmond, before sitting out last weekend’s loss to Adelaide to freshen up his body.

Krakouer slotted nicely into the Power back line and showed he had lost none of the skill that made him a target for the Gold Coast.

“It’s been a long pre-season, a long journey so I’m just happy with the position I’m in now,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything about being upgraded. If I’m playing SANFL round one, I’ll be happy with that. I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself because it’s a long season.”

Now 80kg, Krakouer said he had made huge strides since arriving back in SA, but still had plenty of improvement when it came to fitness.

“It’s just a matter of playing the game now to see where I’m at,” he said. “I’ve had a big step up but the base I’ve done this year is a long way off the rest of these guys.

“I’m just trying to wait for the games to come along and see where I’m at.”

At just 26, Krakouer said he had plenty of football left in him and was settled in South Australia, despite admitting his heart would always be in Mt Barker and Wagin.

“When I did get drafted I was a young fella, then I was just going from being a teenager to a young man,” he said. “Through those times it felt like I managed to stay, so when I come back here now I’ve got no issues with homesickness.”

Krakouer said he didn’t regret walking away from the Suns and his lucrative contract.

“There was lots of personal stuff that I don’t want to go into too much depth with,” he said.

“It’s hard when you’re not feeling in love with footy and the passion for footy, you don’t work as hard and you just go through the motions and you just let yourself and the team down.

“I think it was the best thing for me not to continue staying up on the Gold Coast.

“Everything that’s happened, I wouldn’t want to look back too much about it.

“But I don’t regret walking away from football at all. I felt like at the time it was the right thing to do.

“I was just lucky enough to get an opportunity once again back on the system.”

Krakouer, who is living with young forward Jake Neade, was delighted to have reconnected with boom recruit Paddy Ryder, who he spent a year at Clontarf with before both were drafted.

Krakouer said he had done a lot of growing up since he was last at Alberton.

But he isn’t the only one who has changed.

When Krakouer left Port Adelaide at the end of 2010, they had finished 12th and long-time coach Mark Williams had stepped down and been replaced by Matthew Primus.

In 2015, they will be playing in front of sell-out crowds at Adelaide Oval and are one of the premiership favourites.

“You definitely see the changes, especially with the supporters coming to the games and the way the team has played and the way (coach) Kenny (Hinkley) has coached the team,” Krakouer said.

“No matter what team you go for, I think you wouldn’t mind sitting back and watching Port Adelaide play.”