Win or lose a game of football, there is nothing better to St Kilda's Jack Silvagni than taking his son to the local park the day after an AFL match.
Silvagni, in a candid and open interview with Zero Hanger, admitted he was "guilty" of bringing his work home, ultimately impacting his ability to be the best partner, husband and father.
"I think home life helps my football dramatically," he said.
"I was guilty of bringing my or bringing work home with me, bringing footy home with me, and (that) probably meant I wasn't a great husband or partner at the time.
"I can still do it at times, but I pick myself up out of it once I see Charlie, it's definitely helped me.
"It's because I'm passionate and competitive. I want the club to do better. All my focus and energy whilst I'm at the club is on them and on the team, and I think growth and my development as a footballer, more importantly as a person, is when I come home, I'm in tune with my wife, I'm in tune with myself, and I'm in tune with Charlie."
This newfound perspective has not only aligned with a career-best season to date, but also as his family continues to grow, with a second child due later this year.
Silvagni is averaging career-high disposals (14.3), intercept possessions (6.3) and defensive pressure acts (6.4), and is rock solid in defence.
"To be honest, I'm not doing a heap different (sic), week to week," he said.
"Having a little having a kid at home is awesome, because I'm not really bringing footy home with me. I can't afford to, because I can't project that onto him, and you forget about it all once you see a smiling face, so that's given me an amazing sense of perspective.
"Having seen Charlie after a loss or after a win or anything like that during the week, if we've had a bad review or a good review for that matter, he keeps me very level, because win, lose, or draw, I gotta go to park the next morning with him, so that's that, I think that's really helped."
Silvagni was one of the major off-season moves in October last year, joining the Saints after spending 10 years at Carlton.
Silvagni followed the footsteps of his Nonno (grandfather) Sergio, and father Stephen, to Ikon Park, where they are icons of the Blues. All three have their name on the number one locker, and have combined for an AFL record 696 games, surpassing the Kennedys as the most capped three generations.
Which made the move to Moorabbin, away from the club he grew up supporting, and played a decade for, even more difficult.
"I loved my time at Carlton. I still speak to a lot of the boys frequently, and it was an incredibly difficult decision for me to make, because I wasn't just a player at Carlton for 10 years, I was a supporter for 18 years before that as well, so it wasn't one I took lightly," he said.
"It became a really important decision to make, and it was really something I nutted out with my wife, and I've got a young boy now, and another baby on the way, so we knew that our family was going to grow, and where that was going to be, I wanted to be able to sort of provide for them, and what that looked like, and give them a life that they like, as well as myself. That's what we talked about."
Silvagni was being courted by Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs as well as the Saints, with all three wanting to bolster their defensive stocks.
But it was the existing relationship with St Kilda coach Ross Lyon, which stemmed from working with his father, Stephen, at Moorabbin in the 2000s, that was the determining factor.
"I was really lucky to have interest from from some really quality clubs, I met with Collingwood, and I met with the Bulldogs, and the Saints stuff didn't really come up until really late, and it was my relationship with Ross that probably got me under the line, to be honest," Silvagni explained.
"Because I've known him since I was a little boy, and I think he's one of, if not the best footy minds in the competition, so it really appealed to me, being able to play under him. I think that's where I landed.
"I think he was at the Blues when Dad was there, he might have been assistant coach or something when dad was playing, and then dad coached with him his first stint 'round at the Saints, which is when we sort of got to know him best.
"I reckon that's probably when I was around 9, 10, 11 years old. We knew his kids growing up, and I hadn't seen them for a little while, and I saw his two girls in the rooms after the game (in Round 17), so it was good to catch up with them, because I haven't seen them in eight or nine years."
Not only did Lyon make Silvagni's transition from Carlton to St Kilda easier, but a host of familiar faces he'd already graced the field alongside did too.
Prized recruit Tom De Koning joined the Saints with the key defender, while former Blues Paddy Dow, Liam Stocker and Jack Carroll were already at Moorabbin.
"Yeah, definitely, it made transition a lot easier," Silvagni said. "Blake Acres was good mates with a lot of the boys as well, so I'd had a bit to do with some of the boys already.
"It wasn't too awkward walking into the room first time, but I mean going across, I'm really, really close with TDK, and really good mates with (Paddy) Dow, (Liam) Stocker and Jack Carroll as well. So it definitely made the move somewhat easier."
