‘I hated it’: How Jason McCartney discovered his true calling after Bali bombings identity crisis

As football manager at the GWS Giants, McCartney helped bring in Adam Kingsley as coach, appoint Toby Greene as captain and pull off the highly successful Hopper-Taranto deal with Richmond.

Those backroom manoeuvrings have set the stage for the Giants to produce a remarkable comeback season and contest Saturday’s qualifying final against St Kilda at the MCG.

McCartney has revealed how his efforts in football administration have also been an antidote to the identity crisis he suffered in the aftermath of the bombing.

The events of October 2002 thrust him instantaneously into the national spotlight. His amazing recovery made him a symbol of heroism as Australia dealt with the horrific terror attack.

“It took a couple of years to recover from the burns but I was also trying to recover my identity, to be honest,” McCartney told CODE Sports.

“I was introduced everywhere as Jason, the Bali survivor. I hated it, I was rapt that I survived but I just hated it. There was focus on me but only because of my job as an AFL footballer and the fact it’s a very popular sport.”

Some 21 years ago, McCartney had been drinking with North Melbourne teammate Mick Martyn in Paddy’s Bar when two bombs exploded in quick succession. He suffered second degree burns to 50 per cent of his body.

Initially he thought he wasn’t badly burnt and set about saving others. He was flown back to Australia, nearly died during surgery then spent a week in an induced coma.

All those who helped him through this ordeal – his family, friends, teammates and medical staff – collectively held their breath and hoped he would pull through and come out the other side.

When he regained consciousness, his goals were to marry fiancé Nerissa Vanderheyden and play senior footy again. He married Nerissa 63 days after the bombings and played footy eight months later.

Stitched into the jumper he wore in his comeback match for North Melbourne against Richmond in round 11, 2003 were the numbers 202 and 88: the number of international and Australian deaths from the bombings.

He famously kicked a key last-quarter goal which set up a memorable victory. When McCartney announced his immediate retirement in an on-ground interview he walked off Marvel Stadium into a predicament of a different sort.

“What I wanted to be known for was not the footballer,” McCartney said.

“But what I was doing now – twenty years on and the good thing is now I’m introduced more around what I do now and that is what I’m noted for.

“There were a lot of other people I met who were just as bad (burns and injuries) and some definitely worse than me. They went through the trials, tribulations and hardships as well.”

In October 2003 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his service to Bali victims. He was instantly recognisable everywhere he went. But McCartney was unclear exactly what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

He initially worked for the Nine Network on their AFL coverage, but that TV rights deal expired after two and half years.

He also worked in an ambassador role at the AFL. That put him in contact with David Matthews, who later left league HQ to become the Giants’ chief executive.

McCartney then became involved in game development, which eventually led to a job as the AIS coach. This connected him with a group of youngsters who ultimately became the core of the GWS foundation players, including Jeremy Cameron, Stephen Coniglio, Jonathon Patton and Dylan Shiel.

McCartney’s first job in club land came at Fremantle as a development coach in 2010. The following year he found his dream job in list management at the Western Bulldogs.

With head of recruiting Simon Dalrymple, now at Sydney Swans, he assembled the team which won the 2016 premiership. Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae, Jake Stringer, Caleb Daniel, Tom Boyd, Tim English and a host of others were all signed during his six-year stay at the Kennel.

“The magic is when all parts of your footy club just seem to click,” McCartney said.

“Coaching, high performance and list management, you can tick off all those areas but for some reason it doesn’t go well for the team. You need all parts. I saw that at the Bulldogs.”

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Five weeks ago, McCartney’s first coach at North Melbourne Denis Pagan heard him speak at a ‘Shinboner’ coterie function. He could hardly believe it was the same person he and football manager Geoff Walsh visited in Adelaide in 1997, trying to convince him to move to Arden Street.

“Jason’s growth as an individual hit me right between the eyes,” Pagan told CODE.

“I look at him now and the way he speaks and the stature which he carries himself, it’s outstanding. To see him speak now, he’s a statesman.

“He captivated the audience; he had everyone in the palm of his hand. He spoke about Bali in a very mature way. I couldn’t help but think he is one of the heavy hitters in the AFL.”

Pagan’s letter to McCartney, written the morning after his comeback game in 2003, is the foreword to the book ‘After Bali’ he co-wrote with Ben Collins.

The book details McCartney’s misfortune as a player and how close he came to premierships but always missed out. The worst of those came when he hit Brisbane’s Clark Keating in the 1999 preliminary final.

“He got himself suspended and cost himself a premiership,” Pagan said.

“I don’t know why he did it.”

McCartney was also at Adelaide in 1997, but couldn’t break into the senior line-up in the second half of the year.

After switching to the Kangaroos he played in the losing 1998 grand final then, having missed out in 1999, played in a preliminary final loss against Melbourne in 2000.

“Even though I missed out on playing in a premiership, I’ve been around them,” McCartney said.

“Now I want to work my backside off so players can get that opportunity which I missed out on, I know how good it is, I’ve been around it.”

McCARTNEY’S GIANT OFF-SEASON ACHIEVEMENTS

* Recruitment of Adam Kingsley as coach.

* Appointment of Toby Greene as captain.

* Secured picks 12, 19, 31 and future first-rounder in Hopper and Taranto trades.

* Secured Toby Bedford for pick 44.

* Secured first pick (used to recruit Aaron Cadman).