Get To Know Your New Recruits – A Q&A With Deven Costigan

Deven Costigan brings a country flavour to the Swan Distircts Football Club for the 2020 Optus WAFL Premiership Season.

Growing up in rural Victoria, Costigan is a versatile player who can play all over the ground.

We sat down with Deven to find out a bit more about his career so far, leading up to him joining the Swans.

Q. Is footy a sport you have always played?

A. Yeah I have. Probably ever since the age of eight when I was running around in the under 12’s. I absolutely loved getting out there.

Q. Do you remember you first coach?

A. Russell Hobson back at Bairnsdale under 12s. It was a very long time ago. He was a very good man.

Q. Has there been a coach that has really made an impact on the way you play your footy?

A. Probably Leigh Brown (former Fremantle, North Melbourne and Collingwood player) in the under 18’s Gippsland Power. He really gave me a lot of confidence as a player to back my ability and to take the game on. The one thing I lacked as a junior was confidence, so to get that instilled by him was really important.

Q. When did you start thinking about wanting to pursue footy as a career?

A. Once I got to the TAC cup, which is like the colts equivalent over here, you start to get an understanding of what professional football is all about.

Q. You attended the Draft Combine in 2015. What was that like for you?

A. I only had to do the mental stuff, like the interviews, because I had Osteitis Pubis during that period, so I didn’t do any of the physical testing like the beep test or the 2km time trial or anything like that. It is quite a strenuous week for the participants involved in it but I enjoyed being a part of it, that’s for sure.

Q. After playing a lot of country footy, what made you decide to play for the Northern Blues in the VFL?

A. I grew up in Bairnsdale, which is a town about 4 ½ hours away from the city. Once I turned 18, to be able to go to University and play in the VFL I had to make that move to the city. I originally boarded at the University residence and the closest club was the Northern Blues so it made sense to go there, as they had expressed interest in my under 18’s year.

Q. Tell us how you came to sign with Swan Districts

A. I probably never thought that I’d be playing at a state level again, but when the opportunity arose to come over here and have a sea change, be closer to the beach and have a different lifestyle, I jumped at it. More importantly I was able to move over here with Frank (Anderson) and Sam (Fisher) who are both very good players and great blokes as well. We’re down for two years on our contract but who knows, it could be more. So far, I’m absolutely loving it.

Q. What strengths do you bring to your new team?

A. My running has been a big part of my game throughout my junior years and in the VFL. Also with the structures, I really love getting involved in team tactics. Last year I even went forward and was able to get onto the end of a few goals. So maybe even contribute in that aspect.

Q. What position on the field do you expect to play in at the club?

A. Probably forward. I had a great liking to that last year, but I’m inclined to play pretty much anywhere, off the half back or wing, but probably mainly forward.

Q. Have you come over here with specific goals in mind that you’d like to achieve?

A. Winning as many games as possible is always important to me. I’m a very competitive person and I don’t like losing, so that’s the big ticket item for me coming over here, to win as many games as possible.

Q. Besides playing with the Swans, what else will you be doing while you’re living in Perth?

A. I’ve just come to the end of my degree in Finance so I am currently looking for a job in that area – if there is anyone in Finance out there listening – as a financial analyst or financial planner, or anything along those lines.

Q. Is being drafted into to AFL still a goal for you?

A. Obviously there is still a dream there, but the ambition is to play at the highest level that I can possibly play at, and that’s a big part of my move over to Western Australia to play in the WAFL. To keep challenging myself and keep striving. I look forward to the year ahead.

Q. What AFL team do you support?

A. It’s quite a weird one. I grew up in country Victoria but I go for Fremantle. Make sense of that what you will because there are not many people over there that go for Fremantle. I used to really like the players in the era of Matthew Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands. Matthew Pavlich was probably my favourite player growing up and he was able to win an All Australian in all three positions on the ground. I don’t think there are many that have done that, if any, so he was a massive idol of mine. Unfortunately he is not there anymore but we have (Nat) Fyfe to follow now.

With an exciting season ahead for Swan Districts, contact the club to purchase your Membership today!