Just received the April issue of Reece Outlet, it is a plumbing magazine published by Reece Plumbing Centres and guess who is the feature plumber in this issue. Yes our very own Jake King, he has been a busy boy. Anyway for all you non plumbers who can't access this article, here it is. Or I think you can see it on www.reece.com.au
Plumbers around the world
Jake King, AFL Footballer - Richmond FC
Most plumbers start work young and retire hopefully before their backs give out. One young plumber’s career, however, has taken a sharp, but not entirely unexpected turn. Tigers’ coach Terry Wallace remembers midfield defender Jake King, dozing off on the massage table because of his early starts and tough days as a plumber. But coming through the school of hard knocks has toughened the 24 year old, and made him competitive, fast and tough.
Jake says the demands of a plumbing apprenticeship, the maturity of becoming a qualified plumber, and having to oversee up to four men on some jobs, taught him responsibility and made him think about other people - skills that have helped make him one of the most competitive players in the AFL. And one of the few shining lights in a dismall 2007 season for the Richmond Football Club.
“Well I wasn’t real crash hot at school and Mum always said if I had to leave school it’d have to be an apprenticeship. It was good. The guys I worked with were really nice people. We did a bit of everything, weren’t stuck with one thing. Each day it was different. Made it more interesting.
After my apprenticeship I worked for a year and a half and decided to give footy a real crack. I went to Coburg. That was tough. I’d work eight hours a day. Training started at 6pm, but I’d get there at 4.30pm and doze off on the rubdown table. Then I did a pre-season with Richmond and I got drafted. I was lucky. Most of the boys get picked up earlier,
like 18, 19. I was 22.
I still do plumbing. A lot of it’s love jobs, mostly domestic because I haven’t got the time to do anything big. I’m in the process of getting my company name and starting something up. It’s called Black Cat Plumbing. What I like about plumbing is it’s different. You’re not stuck doing the one thing. I don’t like being stuck at the one place. Couldn’t work in an office. There’s so many changes now. That’s one reason I’m staying involved, because all the materials are changing. The days of copper welding, brass welding, cutting T’s are all gone. It’s all just plastic now.
The biggest issues for young plumbers? Because the industry’s expanding so much, everyone’s starting to specialise. You’ve got air-con, drainage and roofs. It’s just got so big there’s no time to do everything, to look into everything. The blokes I did my apprenticeship with were older blokes, and the stuff we did you don’t see any more.
We had a Reece account at Heidelberg. I used to go in there on Friday when they had their barbeques. I also read Outlet – never thought I’d be in it. A lot of times I’d rather be back plumbing. When I finished my apprenticeship I had a lot of responsibility. I was in charge of all my jobs. I had blokes working for me. My boss showed a lot of faith in me. Then when I gave up plumbing to play
footy I started at the bottom again. You have to start again. Find your way. Get your respect off the boys. It’s a lot of hard work. There’s days when you come in for football and you’re real tired. But you have to perform 100%.
A lot of people say your most memorable game is your first. But last year we didn’t win many games so one of the most memorable was when we beat Collingwood on a Friday night in front of 78,000 people, on TV. Everyone loves playing on Friday night and I don’t like Collingwood so I was very happy with that.
Best footballer I’ve ever seen was probably Gary Ablett Senior but I didn’t really have an idol growing up. I just loved watching the game. And getting out and having a kick. My goal is to get through this season and make sure it’s better than last. And I’d love to play 100 games.” Then get back to plumbing.
Plumbers around the world
Jake King, AFL Footballer - Richmond FC
Most plumbers start work young and retire hopefully before their backs give out. One young plumber’s career, however, has taken a sharp, but not entirely unexpected turn. Tigers’ coach Terry Wallace remembers midfield defender Jake King, dozing off on the massage table because of his early starts and tough days as a plumber. But coming through the school of hard knocks has toughened the 24 year old, and made him competitive, fast and tough.
Jake says the demands of a plumbing apprenticeship, the maturity of becoming a qualified plumber, and having to oversee up to four men on some jobs, taught him responsibility and made him think about other people - skills that have helped make him one of the most competitive players in the AFL. And one of the few shining lights in a dismall 2007 season for the Richmond Football Club.
“Well I wasn’t real crash hot at school and Mum always said if I had to leave school it’d have to be an apprenticeship. It was good. The guys I worked with were really nice people. We did a bit of everything, weren’t stuck with one thing. Each day it was different. Made it more interesting.
After my apprenticeship I worked for a year and a half and decided to give footy a real crack. I went to Coburg. That was tough. I’d work eight hours a day. Training started at 6pm, but I’d get there at 4.30pm and doze off on the rubdown table. Then I did a pre-season with Richmond and I got drafted. I was lucky. Most of the boys get picked up earlier,
like 18, 19. I was 22.
I still do plumbing. A lot of it’s love jobs, mostly domestic because I haven’t got the time to do anything big. I’m in the process of getting my company name and starting something up. It’s called Black Cat Plumbing. What I like about plumbing is it’s different. You’re not stuck doing the one thing. I don’t like being stuck at the one place. Couldn’t work in an office. There’s so many changes now. That’s one reason I’m staying involved, because all the materials are changing. The days of copper welding, brass welding, cutting T’s are all gone. It’s all just plastic now.
The biggest issues for young plumbers? Because the industry’s expanding so much, everyone’s starting to specialise. You’ve got air-con, drainage and roofs. It’s just got so big there’s no time to do everything, to look into everything. The blokes I did my apprenticeship with were older blokes, and the stuff we did you don’t see any more.
We had a Reece account at Heidelberg. I used to go in there on Friday when they had their barbeques. I also read Outlet – never thought I’d be in it. A lot of times I’d rather be back plumbing. When I finished my apprenticeship I had a lot of responsibility. I was in charge of all my jobs. I had blokes working for me. My boss showed a lot of faith in me. Then when I gave up plumbing to play
footy I started at the bottom again. You have to start again. Find your way. Get your respect off the boys. It’s a lot of hard work. There’s days when you come in for football and you’re real tired. But you have to perform 100%.
A lot of people say your most memorable game is your first. But last year we didn’t win many games so one of the most memorable was when we beat Collingwood on a Friday night in front of 78,000 people, on TV. Everyone loves playing on Friday night and I don’t like Collingwood so I was very happy with that.
Best footballer I’ve ever seen was probably Gary Ablett Senior but I didn’t really have an idol growing up. I just loved watching the game. And getting out and having a kick. My goal is to get through this season and make sure it’s better than last. And I’d love to play 100 games.” Then get back to plumbing.
