IN 1998, the coach of the West Australian under-16 team reads out the names of the players who have made the team for the national championships. Left standing in a corner is a scrawny-looking kid who is obviously gutted. He is Domenic Cassisi.
The coach goes up to him later and tells him bluntly he has missed out by two spots because he isn't big enough or fast enough.
"It remains the clearest thing I can remember from my childhood days," Cassisi said. It is an amazing statement considering he had a wonderful, though sometimes tough, upbringing in a middle-class southern suburb of Perth.
"I thought I had to make it to have any chance of playing AFL footy," he says. "I never thought I would miss out, and that cut me really deep. I couldn't believe it; I was burning on the inside."
He went home and told his dad, Lou, and the next morning Cassisi was in the shed working out. That same afternoon, his dad, a graffiti removalist, scraped up enough money to pay for a sprint coach to train his son as often as his meagre dollars would allow.
The rest is history. Cassisi, now 26 and 184 centimetres, was selected by Port Adelaide with pick No. 50, has played 134 games including the 2004 premiership, was appointed its captain earlier this year, and is acknowledged by his peers as a classy midfielder. With his usual sincerity, he refuses to say he has proved his under-16s coach wrong. "He was right," Cassisi says. "At the time, I just didn't want to hear it.
"I often wonder if I had made that under-16 team whether I would have had the burning desire at a young age to make something out of my football life. It made me realise just how badly I wanted to play AFL footy.
"But then, if I never had the support from my mum (Lori) and dad, just like they have given my brother (Anthony), having all the desire in the world may not have mattered.
"If they didn't take me out to train with my local junior club, Maddington, when I was eight or nine, I wouldn't have been lucky to have been coached by Paul Bennett.
"He was just great teaching the skills base. 'Kick with your right foot, kick with your left foot,' he would say time after time. That flows through your years. Footy is fun at that age, and you never know where it's going to take you. To learn the basics at a young age, in detail, was good for me."
Cassisi all but spells out gratitude as he tells his football story in soft tones, and adds his deep love and respect for his both sets of grandparents, who, like so many Italian migrants in the early 1950s, found courage and determination within to survive.
So what inspired Cassisi to become one of Port's most important players last year, finishing second in its best-and-fairest award and ultimately deserving the captaincy?
Cassisi again refers to the family ties, the support from his fiancee, Maiya (they will marry early next year), and Williams' positive influence.
Then, yet another emotional side of Cassisi emerges when he reveals for the first time how his uncle, Danny, aged just 42, died of lung cancer 18 months ago. He speaks of how his sorrow became his motivational force, and how Danny's death continues to have a profound impact on him, to the extent that he remains in a sense of disbelief.
"He was my brother's business partner and we were all extremely close," Cassisi says. "His death made me realise that I have such a great opportunity in life … to be able to do what I love — play football. I represent my family, my club, teammates and especially Danny every time I run out there.
"It was a reality check when Danny died. It showed me that life is really short. It made me mature a lot; I realised what was important in my life. It has changed me as a footballer.
"Before a game, I now look into the crowd — I mean supporters from both sides — and I think how many of them have that terrible disease too, or have family members suffering. I then realise that I am not alone.
"People in tough times look for an outlet, and football gives them that. I feel privileged to be able to play a small part in giving those affected by cancer something else to think about when they are watching a game of football, regardless of who they barrack for."
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