Out in the cold: A heart condition has left footballer Josh Toy without an AFL club. Picture: Kylie Else Source: Herald Sun
JOSH Toy ponders his brief spell as an AFL footballer and the experience leaves him just one option - you have to laugh.
A few months after being offered an extension on his two years at Gold Coast, the Victorian found himself without a club.
It was trade week, Melbourne.
"I was about to go home and pack my bags (to head back up north) and then I got told that was it," Toy said.
"Then trade week fell through and national draft fell through and the rookie draft fell through, and I went from having a one-year deal, in my mind, to nothing in the space of 2 1/2 months.
"Not that it was a fall from grace, because I had nothing to fall from ... I only smile because it was kind of like a joke. It was so the opposite of what I thought was going to happen."
It wasn't a regulation delisting.
Toy, who avoided the draft after being hand-picked by Gold Coast as a priority 17-year-old, has a heart condition that affects his endurance and aerobic capacity.
The condition, which poses no danger to his health, appeared to influence the opinion of five clubs - Essendon, Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne, Hawthorn and Richmond - who had shown genuine interest in recruiting him at the end of last season.
"It (the heart condition) does have slightly limiting factors," Toy said.
"But I spoke to Dave Prior, he's the AFL cardiologist, and he said there are ways that you can improve your running capacity and your endurance levels so I kind of figured if there's still ways I can improve, I was hoping someone would give me a shot."
Toy played eight games in the Suns' debut season in 2011 and five matches last year.
Toy was diagnosed with the condition during his first pre-season at the Suns at the end of 2010 but, looking back, there had been signs.
"When I found out about it, it wasn't as if I was shocked," he said.
"In the AIS we did a beep test and we had our heart rate monitors on and everyone was reading out their heart rate was 200 and I looked down and mine's 181. And I was like, surely I didn't not try my hardest. I was buggered as much as they were.
"Because I didn't go through the draft camp, no one tested for it.
"There were just frustrating times. (The Suns) all went over to Arizona and trained and I was on par with certain players and they came back and they'd improved 20 seconds and I'd improve one."
Toy said he believed, at 20, he could improve his fitness enough to break back into the game at the highest level.
And he has The Weapon on his side.
Toy signed to play with Essendon's VFL side and has been working with the Bombers' fitness staff - including Dean "The Weapon" Robinson - on a program that mirrors an AFL regimen.
"I was doing my gym work at Windy Hill because it's the closest gym," Toy said.
"I ran into Dean twice and he said if you don't get picked up (by an AFL club) I've got an idea for you in terms of training.
"I sat down with him and Jesse, who's looking after the conditioning for the twos, and had a chat about the possibility to get some extra training in first and try and up my load to mimic an AFL environment."
Toy is back living at home with his mum, Rosalee, and brothers Nicholas, 22, and Braden, 16. His father, Malcolm, died in 2008.
He is starting a phys ed degree at RMIT and he is keen to coach.
Toy is also working for the Footys 4 All foundation, which provides equipment for disadvantaged youth.
But he is more than happy to put all that on hold if he gets another chance to play AFL.
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