IT'S A tough time for all of us at the Sydney Swans but it's times like these when a club needs its leaders to show the way.
We've lost all our games in the past month and it's frustrating for everyone at the club. However, we can't afford to let our frustration get the better of us.
All the leaders have to make sure we're doing the right things, encouraging the players to live up to our trademarks and perform the key behaviours that we expect from our younger players.
We're giving these younger players an opportunity to play a lot of football this year and we need to instill discipline into them so they can play consistent footy for the footy club
Discipline covers a lot of things when you’re an AFL footballer. It’s your discipline in doing everything off field – whether it’s your recovery, your massage or your meetings – and it’s discipline to know your role on the ground and then to perform it. We've lost all our games in the past month and it's frustrating for everyone at the club. However, we can't afford to let our frustration get the better of us.
All the leaders have to make sure we're doing the right things, encouraging the players to live up to our trademarks and perform the key behaviours that we expect from our younger players.
We're giving these younger players an opportunity to play a lot of football this year and we need to instill discipline into them so they can play consistent footy for the footy club
If we have more guys performing their role than not performing, the results will come and we’ll be in with a chance in every game.
We need a lot of blokes rowing the boat at this football club and that’s the message to a lot of our younger players – each needs to be one of the guys who are helping us go forward, not one of the guys who drags us back.
It’s a great opportunity for the guys who are just starting out in AFL footy. I remember when I was in the early stages of my career – it’s an exciting time. All you want to do is just get a kick and we’ve really got to enhance that enthusiasm.
We don’t want to bottle up that enthusiasm; we want the young guys to go out there and show it, while really making sure they stay within the game plan. If they can do that, they’ll have a long and successful career.
Personally, I don’t feel any more pressure to perform for the team but my role as a leader is even more important when there are so many young guys in the team.
One of my responsibilities as a co-captain is trying to get the best out of others and you try to bring others into the game.
You’ve really got to be the eyes and voice out there for a lot of those younger players who aren’t so confident with their voice and who aren’t so confident playing at different venues.
We’ve really got to be there to help them through the tough times and hopefully they feel more comfortable as the games go by.
And even though we’ve had a tough run lately, we still think we’re in with a chance of playing finals this year.
We’ve got a couple of games at home now so hopefully we can play some good football. It’s not so much about getting our season back on track; rather, we want to give our guys the confidence that we still are a good team.
We’re really trying, we’re really going hard and we’re really giving ourselves a chance to win a game of football. We’ve just got to keep picking blokes who want to have a crack in the next couple of weeks.
The season is still clogged up on the ladder, so we’ve just got to keep encouraging our boys, keep improving as a group and who knows what can happen.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
