“We went down 22-8. They got over top of us.
“We’ve got a couple out. Obviously, Nico, couple of injuries today.
But I suppose at this time of year most clubs are going through that, so you have just got to keep turning up, I guess, and hope we get them back by next week.
How good has it been for you, personally, and a bloke your age, to be around and go through that period of George Tooke, where you basically saved the club, kept it going? You’ve now re entered your spiritual home, which is Group 9, and you’re now competing at a high level. How does that feel?
“It has been great, obviously, it was pretty tough the last back end of the years in Group 9 there.
We had to make that call.
“George Tooke was good fun. We got to play some good footy. There’s some good teams and good players out there. But it’s definitely been good being back in Group 9. You only have to see the crowds we’ve been getting. Obviously, 18s get to play with us on the same day, and then, obviously, we have a reserve grade now, so it’s really built a good club culture.
“Hopefully, we just keep building, obviously, with Luke and a few of the boys staying around next year. Just, hopefully, keep getting better and better.
Berks has recently re-signed. He’s suffered a shoulder injury, may have been carrying another injury and probably shouldn’t have been out there, but did it for the team, and the young fella’s stepping up as well. How’s that for the spirit of the club?
“He is a very tough bloke. He’s played a lot of footy. He’s played a lot of footy injured, too.
Obviously, the way he plays, he’s going to get hurt. With a few injuries, he probably should be out for the year and he’s just toughing it out, leading from the front and that’s inspiring for the rest of us. He leads the way at training, and then what he does on the field, speaks for itself.
“I think we are sitting fifth on the ladder with South City and Roos and Roos got beaten, which is good for us, but I’m not sure what the score was with South City, but that loss now is probably going to hurt us. It’s going to make a tough run home.
“Hopefully by next week, rest a lot of injuries and refresh. And then if we can win the last three games, we give ourselves a good chance. Instead of keeping it up with other results, hopefully we can go three from three.
“I’m now 25 and started First Grade at 17 with a couple of others. That was our last year in Group 9. We copped a lot of floggings. Had to play two games a day there for quite a bit. Rewarding to come back here and play with a lot of my mates, we are a pretty local side. And then players coming through, so it is good.
What makes a bloke like you, obviously, with the family connections you’ve got, all the way through from your father, to your grandfather, turn up here, and want to put on a blue and white guernsey, and go again and again.
“It is just a small town, all families involved. All my mates are involved, and then you have got mates that start to have kids, and you see them running around. It’s just what you do, I guess, it is pretty rewarding, and it’s just enjoyable to get down here on a Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and see everyone that you are close to, so it’s good.
And you’re a predominant sort of forward player, but have played prop either side of the hooker, might have played a bit of hooker, second row and lock. Are You just happy to play wherever you have to play for the team?
“Yes, definitely. It doesn’t really matter where you play, you have just got to turn up and do your job. And this time of year there’s so many injuries, so you expect to be chopping and changing each week.
“In an ideal world, you’d have the same 17 out there every week, but it’s not like that, so I’m just happy to fill in wherever I can.
Pretty good crowd here, plenty of cars, plenty of spaces filled up.
What’s your message to the people of Coota? Do you need them to get down here and really get behind you guys and turn up and yell and cheer and do the best they can to help get you a hopeful finals appearance?
“That would be good. I think the crowd’s been really good. We’ve had a lot of support, which has been great. I think that’s also very rewarding when you see blokes turn up, but I guess it’s on us, the more we win, usually, the more people turn up, so hopefully we can turn our season around the last three games, and the support will come with that.
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