DURING the mid-season break, Michael Hibberd, Jayden Hunt, Dom Tyson and Jack Watts, along with their family and friends, ventured to King Island for a golfing trip. Hunt and Tyson are among the most passionate golfers at the club and they recounted their tales from their trip …

Dom Tyson

I was lucky enough to get down to King Island, which is between Victoria and Tasmania in Bass Strait, so once that small aircraft lands, you can relax. It was a good chance to freshen up.

We were able to get a couple of rounds in at Cape Wickham and Ocean Dunes Golf Course. They’re some of the most picturesque courses you can play on, so we had a group of 12 – a few boys from the footy club, plus a few mates and family members, so it was a ripper time. It went quick; we lost a few balls, but it was always good fun.

Hunty hits a really nice ball, but I think Hibbo took the honours out of us – he was pretty good. Some of the courses, you’ve got to clear 180 metres before you’re on the fairway, and you’re on a cliff and you’re elevated. There are waves crashing into the sides of the rocks and it’s just a beautiful course to play at.

I went all right – [I played] some good shots and some very, very ugly. I lost a few balls. It was just good to get away, as you’re relaxing and are a millions miles from the footy world down in the middle of King Island. You’re just away from it all and switching off for a couple of days, mentally, just as much as anything. I came back to the club on Monday and felt fresh and ready to roll for the second half of the year.

We’re in a pretty good spot – five [wins] and five [losses], so we’d like to have one or two more wins, but that’s not the case. We’re in a pretty good spot to attack the second half of the year and hopefully we can win two or three in a row and set ourselves up.

We feel like our good footy is good enough and we’ve just got to control the moments where we’re letting teams get away from us in particularly quarters or halves of footy.

Jayden Hunt

A few of us went on a golf trip over to King Island and it was absolutely magnificent. I’ve been over there three times in the past few months on golf and surf trips, so I’m quite obsessed with the island – it’s beautiful.

It was good to get away and get a few rounds of golf in at two of the best courses I’ve ever played, so it was a really good trip. It was a good chance to relax and take a break from footy.

I played 72 holes in three days. I started to hit them well in the second round. I had a pretty good score. I went six over at Cape Wickham, so I’m happy with that, but all of the boys after a few rounds got into the rhythm and it was great fun.

Before I played footy, I didn’t realise how important the bye was for the players. Now I realise because I came back to the club full of energy, I was like a kid out on the track and I’ve loved being back. It was just a great chance to refresh and spend four days not even thinking about footy.

To be honest, the last couple of weeks, I haven’t been happy with my performances – I’ve felt a bit sore and a bit tired in the legs. It was the perfect opportunity to rest the legs and rest the mind and come back and hit the second half of the season strong.