Big League Weekly Edition – July 25, 2019

Makingmistakesis a partoflife,but

asJaemanSalmonknows,it’swhat

youlearnfromthemthatreallymakes

the difference. ByMARTIN GABOR

E

ELSutilityJaemanSalmonhas

a simplemessageforanyonethinking

aboutdrivingaftera bignightout.

“Ifyou’rewithmates,makesureyou

lookaftereachotherandhavea proper

thinkbeforeyouact.It’sbettertobe

safethansorry.”

LastOctober,Salmondidwhat

many20-year-oldsdoandwentout

withmatesfora fewdrinks. The following

day,however,saw

himmakethebiggest

mistakeofhislife.

“Iwentdriving

aftera nightoutand

I crashedwhileI was

lookingatmyphone,”

hetellsBigLeague.

“Iwasdrivingfrom

myhousetoMiranda

Westfieldtodosome

shoppingbeforea day

out.I hita parkedcar

andflippedintotwo

morecars,it wasa pretty

scaryexperience.

“I wastakentohospital

andthankfullyI wasfine,

buttheyblood-testedme

andI hadalcoholinmy

systemfromthenight

beforewhichcounted

aslow-range.It wasscary,butI’ve

learntfromit andmovedpastit.”

Salmonhada bloodalcoholreading

of0.068aftera nightoutintheShire,

resultingina fine,a one-gameclub-

imposedsuspensionanda six-month

drivingbanwhichwasliftedtwodays

beforeParramatta’srecentlosstoManly.

Asa result,hehadtogetthetrain

fromhishomeinCarringbah,swap

atCentralfora connectingservice

toParramattaandthenmakehis

wayfromthestationtotheclub’s

trainingbase.

It wasa punishmentSalmonknew

hehadtocopandhenevercomplained,

althoughhislengthysojourntothe

westwashelpedbyteam-mateBlake

Ferguson,whoalsopassedonwisdom

abouthisownexperienceswithalcohol.

“ForsixmonthsI’dgetthetrainfrom

CarringbahtoHurstvilleandthenI’d

getpickedupbyBlake.Hehelpedme

a lotwithliftsandtalkedtomeabout

life.He’sexperiencedthehighsandlows

sohehada lottosay.He’sbeena terrific

mentorforme,”hesays.

“Ifourschedulesdidn’tmatchupthen

I’dhavetogetpublictransportalltheway

from CarringbahtoParramatta,which

tookaround 90 minutes.

“It’snotideal,especially

whenthetrainispacked

andyouhavetostandup

foranhour.I generally

justlistenedtomusic

andgatheredmy

thoughtsbecauseyou

haveplentyoftimeby

yourself.I alwaystried

tohavea showerafter

trainingsoI wouldn’tbe

hotandsweatyforthe

longcommutehome.”

Thepastsixmonths

haveservedasa steep

learningcurvefora young

manwhoisstartingto

establishhimselfas

a regularfirst-grader

ina teamthatisback

pushingfora finals

berthaftera horror 2018 campaign.

Now,ratherthancheckingtheSydney

transportapp,Salmoncanfocuson

footyandhelpingtheblueandgolds

tothetopeightfinishtheirfanshave

beencryingoutfor.

“Itwasa longsixmonths,butI’mglad

it’sover.I gotmylicencebackandI’m

stokedtobedrivingagain,”hesays.

“Myfirstdrivewastotraining.

It feltsogoodbeingabletodrive

toParramattabymyselfandnot

worryingaboutpublictransportand

waitingatthestationfortoolong.

“I’vegrownupsincewhathappened

andI’velearntnottotakethingsfor

granted.Wehavegoodcareersandthis

isthedreamjob.Thatmomentmademe

realisethatwecanloseit allin an instant

if wedothewrongthing.”

teering

PHOTOS: lear

Gregg Porteous/NRLPhotos.com (Main); John Grainger (Inset)

FACINGTHEMUSIC:

Salmon leaves court.

22 BIG LEAGUE 2019 Round 19