Player Column – Dylan Ross Round 17

OVER the last few weeks I have been feeling a lot better and I think my footy has improved because of it. I probably went a bit hard early on when I still wasn’t feeling 100 per cent and my form fell away a little bit, but it's good to be finally getting a few kicks and knocking on the door for a league game, fingers crossed.

I spoke to a few people who had glandular fever before and they all said it really knocked them around, but I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. It certainly does zap you of your energy, though, and it makes it hard to find the motivation to get up and going. It was pretty tough, but luckily now I am feeling a lot better and it's all going well. It's getting to the pointy end of the year and the reserves will play finals and the league side is pushing to finish somewhere between third and fifth, so I just want to be part of it in some way.

When I did a column earlier in the year, I talked about how I felt I had cemented a spot in that back-line over the last couple of years, but with the combination of my wrist surgery in the pre-season, a little bit of poor form and then the illness, I lost my spot and now I'm doing everything I can to try to get another crack at it. That's just how footy works and I've certainly got that hunger back now that my health is better, so fingers crossed I can get another chance in the league side this year.

Even though it was tough there for a few weeks when I was really not feeling well and my form dropped off a little, I still enjoyed coming down and getting around the boys. It did get tough from time to time, but the boys rallied around me which was really good and I always felt I would be able to come through the other side of it. It's just been one of those years where I've had some bad luck after not really being injured or sick at all the last few years. I had the wrist injury and now the illness, so I guess it was just my time to have a bit of a tough trot.

It has been enjoyable playing in a reserves team that is playing good footy and sitting on top of the ladder. Because we've got such a good side I haven’t had a lot to do the last few weeks playing at full-back, but just seeing the young boys develop has been enjoyable, not that I am an old fella or anything. It has just been good getting around the younger boys and having a few good wins.

Physically I do feel like I'm ready to go now if an opportunity in the league team opens up. I feel as though I'm running on top of the ground now and doing all those little things you need to do during games, and am defending well. I thought especially last week I played alright, so it's just a matter of knocking on the door and hope an opportunity comes my way, then hopefully grab it with both hands.

It is an exciting time at the club as well with us being a chance to play finals in both grades. I've been here for five years now and the ones have only played finals once, so all the boys are really keen to make sure we finish in the five and we've shown that on our day we can match it with anyone. It's just a matter of making the finals and we'll see what happens from there.