Jezza’s Journal #5

By Jeremy Cameron

This weekend is massive for the club and I am raring to go after a couple of weeks off.

It was a pretty unique experience having a burst eardrum that prevented me from flying, and playing against West Coast.

I was good to go, but Leon and I talked about it and decided a five day round trip of driving to get over to Perth was just too much, so I watched on in a pretty disappointing game for the guys.

It was really frustrating watching, because I just wanted to be out on the field helping my teammates out, and I know talking to guys like Shane Mumford, who also missed the game, that he felt the same.

So it’ s a really special feeling to play my first game in a little while, and be back at home at Spotless Stadium for the first time in seven weeks.

We haven’t lost at Spotless so far this year, and in front of a great home crowd I know it’ll be a really good afternoon.

All the guys really like playing at Spotless Stadium, and we’ve played a lot of our best football this year there, and hopefully we can produce some of it against Richmond.

We have had a fantastic week on the training track; I think without a doubt it’s been the one of the best weeks we’ve had all year.

As a player you always try your absolute hardest at training, but some weeks for some reason everyone just really clicks, and this has been one of those weeks.

I think having the bye has been a big factor, in that everyone has had the opportunity to freshen up physically and mentally, and everyone is raring to get into football again.

Everyone had the opportunity go home and take some time away from the club during the break, including me, and I know the boys really appreciated it.

It’s really exciting to have some great players come back into the side this week, and we look really strong on paper.

We’ve definitely missed the influence of Shane Mumford on the field, in the first few weeks of the season he was right up there as one of the best big men in the competition; he’s as good as having another midfielder with his skills and huge tackling pressure.

Curtly Hampton down back is another fantastic addition, he provides a lot of dash and is just really classy off the half-back line, and of course we know how good Adam Treloar is with his ball-winning ability and composure.

You might have seen a few pictures about of me fishing with my good mate at the club Devon Smith, including an absolute whopper – more than a metre long – which Devon caught a couple of weeks ago.

I am a really keen fisherman, as is Devon, and he has a little boat here with him in Sydney, which we try to get out on at least once a week.

I love fishing for several reasons.

There’s the element of competitiveness where you want to go and catch something really big, but fishing is also great to get away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney and clear the head.

But as much as I enjoy snagging a big fish, that feeling is nothing compared to kicking goals and contributing for the team in front of a home crowd.

Hopefully I’ll contribute really well on the weekend, I am absolutely 100% fit and cannot wait!