Jezza’s Journal #4
By Jeremy Cameron
I’m really looking forward to what is a big game for us this weekend against the Crows in Adelaide on Sunday afternoon, and I know the team is ready and raring to go.
We’ve started the season win, loss, win, loss, so following that trend we should get a win on the board this weekend!
It’ll be great to get onto Adelaide Oval, I’ve heard the stadium looks fantastic, and it will be extra special for me as I have a lot of my family and friends coming along to watch.
My home town is pretty much exactly halfway between Adelaide and Melbourne, it’s about five hours to either city, and my family and friends try to get to as many games as possible.
I normally play pretty well when they’re in the stands, so fingers crossed I can contribute on Sunday afternoon!
The mood around the group has been really good, and the coaching staff on the whole were really happy with how we went against the Bulldogs, as our Key Performance Indicators like tackles and contested possessions were positive.
Unfortunately our work rate just dropped off in the last ten minutes of the game and we couldn’t get over the line, but it was a really good learning experience.
At the risk of sounding overly philosophical, I think as a club we’re almost at a stage where we’re learning more from losses, and there have been a few really good insights from our couple of losses this season so far.
We will have an eight-day break in between games, after playing the Bulldogs last Saturday, and it’s always nice to get that extra little bit of rest.
We’re still a very young team, and any extra opportunity to relax and get the body right we take full advantage.
It’s been quite a light week on the track so far, but today we’ll ramp it up and have a hard main training session.
When we’ve had that extra day’s break we will almost always include 10-15 minutes of match simulation in our main training session, as well as other targeted work based on the type of football we want to play that weekend.
The players enjoy the match simulations at training, and obviously while you don’t run through anyone when they’re exposed to be hit, you do attack the football hard and tackle with real force.
Outside of games, training is the only chance you get to impress the coaches, and with plenty of guys playing well in the NEAFL and knocking on the door of senior selection, an outstanding training session could get them over the line into the team.
Personally, I still train as hard as I ever have, despite the fact I have been with the club a few years, and have had a reasonably good start to my career.
I really appreciate each time I get named in the team, and it’s always an honour to pull on a GIANTS jumper.
I know football can be a very ruthless game, there’s always another person behind you wanting your spot, so I don’t take any game for granted.
It was really nice to kick my 100th goal on the weekend, though I had no idea about the milestone until I saw it on twitter afterwards (follow me: @Jezzacameron), where people were congratulating me.
Buggy (Thomas Bugg) has been getting into me about delivering a lace out pass onto my chest for me to kick the goal, but the truth is he was having a shot for goal and shanked it; we all know Buggy couldn’t kick the top off a custard tart!
Until next time, have a very happy Easter, and Go GIANTS!