From A Double Degree to Footy: Get to Know Ollie Lowe

21/06/2022

Exciting forward Ollie Lowe talks about footy, his studies and much more.

Not everyone can say that they are juggling a double degree at a major university as well as a promising footy career. However young forward Ollie Lowe is an exemption to this.

“(I do) a double degree of Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE), which is one half, and then Arts as the other and I’m doing Criminology and International Relations as part of that Arts branch,” Lowe said.

Despite its challenges, the ex-Sandringham Dragon has been able to find a balance.

“There’s times with different priorities, times where I’ve got to focus more on uni and times where I’ve got to focus more on footy and then part-time work with that as well.

“My main focuses are uni and footy. I’d love to just be able to focus on footy and have that as the main thing I do, but where I am at the moment I have to be realistic, the dream of AFL I’m still working towards it, but I’ve got to focus what other things I might do in my future.”

The double degree has its benefits, including helping him have a broader range of options when his time comes to enter the workforce."

“I think it’s definitely helped me specialise and figure out what’s best for me, not only what interests me the most but also what I’m good at."

“I’ve always been driven by what interests me, not just what you're good at, because you can be talented in one thing but not have the motivation to succeed in it because it doesn’t really interest you."

“Something like Foreign Policy analysis, that’s really interested me. It’s really hard and a pretty difficult subject but it’s what interests me so if I can get better in that area I think it can definitely be something to look out for in the future.”

On the footy side of things, since joining last preseason, Lowe has thoroughly enjoyed his time at a familiar place in Sandringham.

“It was a really enjoyable preseason, working hard three times a week, so it was a nice, enduring process, but definitely got us ready and fitting in really well. There’s a lot of new faces in the team since last year and I think we all fit in really nicely.”

Since joining the Club, Lowe has played four games between rounds four and seven, saying that has been the most enjoyable part so far.

“That four week period as the 23rd man was really enjoyable, really cool playing with and against guys at the top level, seeing if you can match it with them, playing at a high standard and testing myself against the best.”

Despite having not been selected since round seven, Lowe hopes to come back into the side come finals time.

“We’re looking in really good shape as well so just trying to get as many wins on the board as possible and then hopefully having a spot in the team come finals time.

“If we do make the finals, playing in a VFL finals series would be crazy in my first year. That would probably be the best achievement I could hope for, just getting a game in the finals would be awesome.”

Before he joined the Zebras he was a part of the Sandringham Dragons NAB League program, saying that he enjoyed his time there.

“Last year was really enjoyable, a really good season where I got to familiarise myself with a position up forward and fit into the team really well.”

He had plenty of teammates who would eventually be drafted, including Finn Callaghan who he thought was a class above on the field.

“Really silky, I knew him for a few years prior as well, but the couple of years at Dragons he broke out, especially last year. Out of COVID no one had seen a lot of him and he just dominated. He's really skilful, tall, athletic, quick, clean, everything you can think of.”

Off the field as well he had great chemistry with his teammates, including fellow forward Tom Blamires.

“It was a really enjoyable, really connected team, which is hard to do at the NAB League level. There’s always a lot of guys from different places, school footy and stuff like that, but I think last year we only lost one game and a lot of that was due to the connection."

“My best mate was probably Tom Blamires, he’s at the Zebras now as a train-on. Him and I got along very well off the field”.

During his time there he had some involvement with the Zebras, particularly towards the end of the season.

“Once it got down to the end of the season, in my exit interview with the Dragons they talked about how Sandy wanted me for a preseason. I looked at a couple other VFL clubs but Sandy was a familiar place, I knew we had connections at the Dragons and they could always help me out."

5 Rapid Fire Questions

Any hobbies outside of footy/studying?

"Travelling, obviously haven’t been able to do a lot of that recently, anything as long as it’s getting outside of Melbourne, getting down the coast or hanging out with friends, going to a festival or just hanging out in general."

“I do like reading and video games as well, I really like the PlayStation. Obviously those are just little fun hobbies I do in my spare time but honestly I think my hobby would be footy, if I could do footy as a full time job I’d love to.”

Favourite movie?

“It would have to be The Dark Knight or maybe Moneyball with Brad Pitt in it”.

Favourite snack?

“Anything with caramel in it, I don’t know why but I’m obsessed with caramel, caramel biscuits, caramel chocolates or stuff like that.”

Favourite AFL/AFLW team?

“Carlton, I'm a Blues fan.”

Favourite AFL/AFLW player?

“Growing up was definitely Eddie Betts, I had the 19 on my back and would go out and spend a lot of time out on the oval, mainly in the pockets doing snaps and bananas like Eddie."

“As a forward I also looked at Nick Riewoldt, who was another one where going into my Year 9/10 years when I started to first become a forward I definitely modelled my game around him”.

Written by Joshua Ward - Sandringham Football Club Media