Player Column – Cory Dell’Olio Round 14

IT was a really important win up in Joondalup for us last week against West Perth. After a loss the week before we really set ourselves up with a solid week on the track and it showed with a good performance against a quality side who had been in good form for a number of weeks.

The last month has been very interesting to say the least. We played both AFL aligned sides and unfortunately come up short by minimal margins to both. Could look at both games and make reasons for that but the biggest thing is we did lose and weren’t good enough for periods of the game which cost us and it’s something we need to get better with for the second half of the season.

The derby and last week against West Perth were both really solid performances which were nice to have but looking back on the last month, even one game further back when we played Subiaco we haven’t been consistent for long enough and the games we have dropped I believe have stung the boys quite a bit. I think it’s a good lesson to learn through the middle part of the year.

We take on Perth at home on Sunday and they are a really exciting team. They fly the ball around and can score very quickly. It’s quite cliché but we know we can’t just rock up and expect to win, the lessons over the last month have taught us that and it’s actually a really important game for us to lock down that spot in second and set ourselves up for second half of season.

The TV game is always a big deal in the week leading up to the broadcast for a few boys in particular. No more so than Adam McIntosh and Shaun Bewick who let everyone know weeks in advance of the TV game scheduled. Both lads have different lead ups, Adam will probably have the haircut two to three days out and make sure his very sharp looks are on show for the day while Shaun I did notice went last Thursday for the trim and more looking for that rugged look which he thinks he suits. Ben Saunders a close third for making sure he is on point for the day.

Personally, the last month I feel my form has been slightly improving each week which is nice. I would be the first to admit my form in the first third of the season wasn’t acceptable but for Todd and the coaches to back me in was nice and probably the confidence I needed. Hopefully the last month and the second half of the year I can repay that with some solid form.

I think I am starting to get to that point now where I am a lot more confident in my ability due to that fitness and also the continuity now of playing some football after the extended lay off. Early on it was always in the back of my mind whether I was up to it anymore but that now seems like a thing of the past and I am really enjoying my football.