Player Column – Haiden Schloithe Round 12

IF you asked us at the start of the year where we'd be after Round 10, and you said 8-1, most of us definitely would have taken that. We played six consecutive games in-a-row before our bye last week so that came at the right time.

There's a few blokes who have a few knocks and niggles so it was good for them to freshen up and get ready for the derby now on Monday which is always a massive game.

We played Subi a few weeks ago and we didn’t play the way we wanted to, and they gave us a bit of a touch up that day. We know they are the benchmark in the comp so we learned a lot out of that, and the way we have responded to that has been really pleasing.

We kicked the last five goals to beat Claremont in what was a really good comeback and now our wins the last two games against Peel and Swans have been really positive. We know we're still not satisfied with where we sit and we can still improve a lot more, so we are focused on training hard leading into the derby to get ready for East Freo.

The boys have a lot of confidence in each other this year and we know that even if we aren’t playing well during a game, if we just stay the course and keep grinding it out and keep to our principles that we will find a way to score. That's been the case the last three weeks. Obviously it's not a great position to be in against the better sides to have to come from behind but we know that we can find a way if we get in those situations.

Now that I'm spending most of my time playing at half-forward, the defenders that are playing on me are giving me a fair bit of attention. You have to expect that, but I just to have to not let it get to me like I probably have the last couple of weeks. I need to focus on playing my role for the team and if that means I don’t get 25 or kick a couple, but only have 10 or 15 and lay 10 tackles with other guys kicking goals, then so be it.

My focus is on continuing to be on the move and grind through the close attention, and eventually the rewards will come. It was nice against Swans that I finally had a half-decent game to contribute to the side in a good win. Hopefully I can keep that going now.

We now look forward to the derby on Monday. Obviously the last one on Anzac Day was massive for both the clubs and we obviously have a lot of respect for East Freo. They are playing some great footy at the moment and they are one of the real red hot form teams in the competition. We've had the week off and some of us went down to watch them against Peel and now we've got a good week to prepare for them, and hopefully put on a good show against them here at home.

The bye last week was a good break for us but it's a long time still until we play on Monday. The boys will be fresh that's for sure and we'll be able to tell in the first 10 minutes of the derby if the break has been good for us or not. The Foundation Derby is one of the biggest games in the WAFL of the year, it's at home, against our arch-rivals who are playing really good footy and I'm sure the boys will be up and about for that.

It's interesting that I have never played in a winning derby here at our home ground. The away side has won the last 12 derbies but fingers crossed we can change that on Monday. It's hard to work out why the away team has been winning. Hopefully we change that this time and we can stop trying to figure it out.

The Foundation Derby as a player just gets you more up and about with so many people watching and knowing the whole history of it. Just seeing the whole ground filled with people obviously gives that extra bit of kick from a normal week. The Foundation Derby in front of that many people will no doubt get the boys up and about for it.