“It started a couple of years ago as a three-week trial because I wasn’t a morning person,” Fyfe told Murphy over a cup of tea and some toast at his home in Perth. “I’d roll into work, footy, at 8am in the morning ... bed hair, grumpy and not acknowledge anyone for an hour or so until I found my rhythm." But Fyfe felt compelled to change after feedback "from lots of people" within the club that he needed to change. “Brett Kirk was the one that made me a bit aware of it, that you have to neutralise your energy constantly if you want to be a leader around this joint," Fyfe says. "It's a tough place to walk into every morning, particularly if you're an introvert.

"To have to walk into the robustness of a footy club, where people are just ready to chirp you, or come at you or pat you on the back or ask you to do something. "If you’re not ready for that, it can be hard work. I’m (very much so) an introvert but can be an augmented extrovert if I have to be. "When you go into an environment where you have to put on a persona of enjoying the spotlight or the other people around you but [I'm] very much like my mum and dad, introverted." The solution was simple. Fyfe would take a dip in freezing cold water every morning of the working week. "The challenge was (initially) three weeks of 6am beach sessions,” he says.

"The first thing that you do in the day is an achievement so that the rest comes easy." Fremantle Dockers captain Nat Fyfe opens up to Bob Murphy about his daily routines in a refreshingly different interview. Credit:Bob, Fox The meaning of life as an AFL footballer Fyfe's most recent game of football was his 150th, celebrated with a big win over Carlton at Etihad Stadium in round 13. But 10 years ago, when he was starting out as a scrawny forward drafted at pick 20 in the 2009 national draft, the reality of footy being just for kicks was quickly superceded by the scrutiny that comes with being part of the AFL system.

"Footy was very much a fun thing that you did on the weekend, and that was it," Fyfe says. "So to be able to view football as a full-time career was totally foreign. "I was pretty keen to come in, make a bit of money, get a few extra followers on Facebook (laughs), enjoy having a kick and that was as far as it went." It's hard to believe that a Brownlow medallist (2015) and dual All-Australian (2014-15), Doig Medalist (2013-14) and AFL MVP (2014-15) was never a football fanatic. "I wrestled long and hard in the early days with the 'you've got to be a professional athlete' thing... it didn't make sense to me," Fyfe reveals.

"The video [analysis] was the first thing; I had no idea what sort of footy player I was until they started showing me these different angles and I thought, 'that's not what I'm doing is it'? As the scrutiny and intensity increased, Fyfe began to question how his burgenouning AFL career fit into the meaning of his existence in the world. "What are we doing playing footy? How is this helping us evolve in any way? I mean we're not saving lives," Fyfe recalls. "These are thoughts that have somehow crippled me my whole life. "I mean we're playing footy, and I'm getting paid a lot of money to do it, and I'm devoting my whole life to it but .... [what's the greater meaning].

"So that led me down the garden path a number of times." Brett Kirk guided Fyfe during his time at Fremantle as an assistant coach. Credit:John Donegan Again it was Kirk who helped Fyfe address his inner emotions and overcome perhaps this deepest of footy conundrums. “Brett Kirk was like a big human mirror, just getting me to look back at myself and go 'okay, what are you doing here? How is that affecting people? How is that affecting you?" When Murphy remarks he's not surprised Kirk and Fyfe had struck a strong rapport when working together at the club ("both weirdos" is the Freo captain's response), Fyfe reveals a sledge he received this season that made him laugh and one the quirky former Sydney captain would no doubt relate to.

"A player's gone 'mate stop being such an individual'," Fyfe recalls. "I chuckled to myself and thought 'that is one of the greatest compliments you could ever give me'." The ununusual pre-game ritual While most players rely on inspiring or upbeat music to relax or pump them up before a game, Fyfe revealed a unique approach that may have his contemporaries at the other 17 clubs searching for the dial rather than swiping on Spotify. Fyfe's method is beautifully nostalgic, and takes him back to the bliss of his childhood footy in the country town of Lake Grace, 345km east of Perth (population 500).

"I listen to talkback radio," he reveals. "When I was young and you'd go to footy with dad in the car, we'd have ABC radio on and so it's almost like it takes me back to that space, in the car. "I listen to it on the bus ride to the MCG for example, when we're travelling and I can get the app on my phone. Fyfe enjoyed winning the 2015 Brownlow ... just for a while. Credit:Quinn Rooney "Putting the talkback on and travelling to footy is a time I spent with my dad, and so that's where I want to be, I want to be in that space.

"I don't really want to go into the heavy music pump up ... I'd rather just spend some time with dad before we get to the game." The quest for consistency and balance For a professional athlete who struggled to find the right balance in the early years of his career, Fyfe realised he had to feel like he had accomplished something early on each day, no matter how significant. "Constantly examining yourself and where you're at mentally, and using all the tools through meditation, through routine, ritual ... so the beach (swims) for example," he says. "You can look at it from lots of different angles. Some people who start the day with a cold shower or the beach, as I do, say that you achieve something.

"The first thing that you do in the day is an achievement so the rest of the day comes easy. "But for me it’s what I do ... it’s so ritualised in what I do, that without it, I can lose a little bit of guidance in my day. "What’s the first thing I do if I don’t do that? You can cack yourself in any moment; in a meeting, as your mind's starting to drift. In a game." (When Murphy urges Fyfe to not meditate during coach Ross Lyon's meetings, Fyfe reveals the Dockers had one player on their list who was on a special program to keep him more alert during team meetings because he dozed, which included pressure point and chewing spearmint gum). The expectation from fans and media

Fyfe revealed the heroic headlines often praising his performances felt off the mark but also spurred him to perform at a higher level when he found it hard to get there. "Sometimes I'll read stuff about a performance I've done and I'll go 'I don't know if I can live up to that'," Fyfe says. "It's at those moments where you've had no impact, you're not feeling it, the weight of the world is on you and you go, now might be the opportunity to live up to that expectation. "And there's something exciting about that for me... to be able to do something great or memorable, you have to have the opportunity to do it. "If it was all smooth sailing and you dominated every week, you wouldn't have that opportunity to really fight and earn every scrap of respect."

The football club environment AFL fans know all too well the numb and negative sentiment that comes when your team exits the finals, or fails to make them, or is simply rubbish for most of the season. It's a feeling Fyfe also feels, and helps explain his joy at winning football's highest honour in 2015 when Fremantle finished third. "Unless you don't finish in the finals, which isn't a good result, or you win the grand final, your last game of the year, every year, will be a loss," he says. "As good a year you've had as a group or as an individual, you always finish unfulfilled.