Player Column – Tim Kelly Round 4

WE were very disappointed with our efforts against Swan Districts so to bounce back the way we did on Saturday was great. Hopefully we can keep that going now.

We play West Perth this week and it’s always a great game against them. You know they will always be competitive so I’m looking forward to that challenge. They have some great ball winners in their midfield and we’ve got great ball winners for us as well. Most weeks now you get great midfield battles so this Saturday will be another one.

It was definitely good to have Hocks back on Saturday for his first game of this year. Obviously he came across last year and just made himself right at home here and led us from the front. It was great having him back on the weekend.

We’ve had big Jake as our ruckman so far this year as well and he’s been great. At the moment he is keeping Higgo out, but Higgo is such a tough competitor and I can see him forcing his way back in at some point. But to Jake’s credit he’s holding him out and he is giving the coaches something to think about. There’s no reason they both can’t play as well.

I’m just trying to build on my game each week and play with some consistency. It has been going well so far and even though I’ve been getting some good numbers, that’s not everything you judge your game on. I had 38 against Swans and it’s those stats that a lot of people look at, but personally it’s not all about that. It’s what people do like to see and if it’s my day and I end up with it 38 times that’s great, but if I only have it 20 times and I’ve played my role for the team that’s just as good.

As good as it is to win a lot of the ball, I do especially like winning the footy in close and at stoppages. It’s something I always did well when I was younger but it’s taken a while to develop it at such a higher level of footy. Playing against such bigger bodies I’ve had to work on my strength a lot and I’ve had to work on a lot of stuff outside of footy in terms of my body. Slowly bits and pieces are coming together in my game and it seems to be working well.

Like most players, you want to keep improving each year and each week and I’m no different. For me last year was huge getting to play state footy and finals for the first time. That was definitely an achievement so I just have to keep building on that now.

Playing finals for the first time last year was exciting and it had been a pretty frustrating first couple of years not making it. But to finally make it was awesome just to get a taste of it. You learn that it’s just like another game in a lot of ways, but there’s so much more at stake. To fall one game short of a grand final that had a lot to do with how well we went in pre-season. Everyone is pushing each other and striving to get better so that pushed us to keep improving.

It’s so much more enjoyable to be playing in a winning team as well. When you win, you just enjoy being around the club and doing all the little things but when you are losing everything is a bit tougher. I’ve been here when we’ve had our small groups and when you lose things get tough, but right now we are all together and we’re one group. It feels like a real brotherhood and that shows with the way we are playing.

This is the closest the group has ever been in my time and we are more than just league and reserves sides. We are one team. When the reserves lose we hurt for them and when the league side lose, the twos boys hurt for us. We are one group who wins and loses together and everything we do is together so it’s a great place to be right now.