Player Column – Josh Pullman Round 2

AFTER the all the intra-club hit-outs, match simulation and pre-season friendlies, we were really keen to take the gloves off and test ourselves against a respected side in West Perth last week.

We came away with a win in all grades, which was rewarding given the work we’ve put in. The reserves win was particularly exciting to watch with the last goal of the game just before the siren.

As a senior squad, we have a number of areas we’d like to work on and a lot of good players putting their hands up in the reserves, which is positive. Competition for spots is a healthy thing for the club.

I’ve had a bit of a sea change this season, spending the last month or so learning the art of playing as a defender.

After eight or nine years exclusively as a centre half-forward or full-forward from my colts days at Swans, senior footy there, time in Queensland and now since coming to South, it’s been a steep learning curve.

Guys like Blayne Wilson, Adam McIntosh, Adam Guglielmana and Jason Maskos have been outstanding at sharing their experience and knowledge to help fast-track me a little bit, alongside the great footy brain in our defensive line coach Arthur Maskos.

The move made sense from a team balance perspective - with Mason Shaw, Benny Saunders and Zac Strom all very capable forwards, we were already starting to look pretty threatening in the air in attack.

Spreading some of that height down to the back-line meant that our medium-sized defenders could play to their strengths a bit more. It’s also good for the balance of my game, and adds a bit of a string to my bow. 

The biggest difference I’ve found between playing forward and back is your relationship with space on the field. It does a complete 180. As a forward, most of the time, space is your friend. As a defender, most of the time space is not your friend.

While it’s impossible to blanket all of the dangerous space all of the time, you can save yourself a few headaches by having a say in what space the opposition forward line gets access to.

This has given me a new-found respect for the importance of midfield pressure as the opposition tries to move the ball forward. It’s a lot tougher to stop an unpressured kick, than it is a pressured one.

We’re playing Swan Districts down at their home deck this week. They’ll be looking to bounce back from a tough game against East Fremantle last week, so we’ll need to back-up our preparation and execution for a big Round 2.