Player Column – Dylan Ross Round 7

OBVIOUSLY getting dropped is never the easiest thing to take, but I have just focused on going back trying to play the best I can and offering some leadership, and following the lead from guys like Red and Gumby to try and get back in the ones as quickly as I can.

Obviously with the longer week we trained Saturday morning before playing on Monday, and Toddy just came up to me and had a chat, and said that there's a few things I need to address moving forward and he thought it was in with the best interests of the team that I had a run in the twos. No one's bigger than the footy clubs and if that's his decision that's his decision, unfortunately both teams didn’t go too well on the weekend against East Fremantle.

I had wrist surgery over summer so that inhibited my pre-season a little bit so my touch was a little bit off and confidence was a little bit down. That was the main reason the main reason I was given, it wasn’t so much that one game against Subi but the form over the whole season. Obviously I would like to be in the ones but that's how it rolls. 

Obviously it was a bit hard to swallow when I was first told and it was tough getting the news because you always want to be in the ones, and I have worked so hard to cement my spot in the ones the last couple of years coming from another club and stuff like that. But the match committee thought it was the best for the team and that's the way it is. I just have to move on and if I’m in the ones or the twos this week, whatever it might be, I just have to play my best footy possible.

The way the team is structured at the moment there's a lot of senior guys down there with me in the reserves and there's a lot of guys too stiff not to be in the ones team, so I think they rallied around each other on Monday. Even in saying that there's a few guys that are not as experienced as us but they are knocking the down door as well and probably a bit stiff not to be playing in the league too. It's healthy and it's bringing competition because a lot of guys want to play in the ones team too, not just me.

There are a lot of experienced guys there and between me, Red, Gumby and Whitey last week, we have 493 games of league experience behind us, and the way those guys have handled that, especially Red and Gumby who have been there pretty much all year has just been outstanding. It's not about them, it's about the footy club in the bigger picture and it's great way to go about it. 

I just approached the game on Monday like any other game I suppose, and tried to prepare as best as I could. I thought I was pretty good in the first half and faded out a little, but I just tried to help the young guys as best as I could. 

Then watching the league game in the afternoon was really tough. I was really happy to see the boys start so well and it was probably one of the best starts we've had in a while, but it was pretty hard watching them. I'm not very good at watching footy games. I know that maybe if I was out that I might have been able to help out, but so be it. 

We also have some depth in those key defensive spots that I'm battling with and we've got Strom, Luffy and Blayno down there. It brings good competition and there is probably four or five guys that could run through those two positions, and James Sellar has proved that he can play down back too. It's good for the footy club and a good situation, obviously I would like to be there but the boys on the weekend did their best. 

We are just going to make sure that we bounce back as quick as we can starting Saturday against East Perth, in both the ones and twos. I think we have done pretty much everything right, well the boys definitely have at training this week, and in a way it's probably a good thing now to have a short break to playing on Saturday after losing three on the trot. You want to play as quick as you can. It's probably a good thing for us. 

I don’t think we are too far away. In the games we have lost, we have been in the games. So we have to take some confidence out of that and this time last year we were sitting 0-6. To be 3-3 is not the worst start, obviously we would like a couple more wins but the confidence has got to be there. We are definitely showing we can match the best teams, even against Subi we were right on the game at quarter-time and even half-time, but the confidence has to be there.