Well, what a night we had in Adelaide last weekend. I hope you all got to stay up and watch our game against Port.
I don’t know how many of you went to bed during the third quarter, I hope not too many, because you missed something special.
It’s not every day that your team is eight goals behind with only about 35 minutes left to play and wins.
We’ve talked in this column before about the value of persistence and never giving up, and that game was a classic case in point.
There was also another real lesson in the match.
I believe the AFL Brisbane Juniors season kicks off this weekend, so it is worth taking this message into your game.
It might seem very simple, but it is not always necessarily easy to do. And that is, win the ball.
Go in and get it. Don’t hang back and wait for things to happen for you because they rarely ever will.
Our midfield guys against Port just kept on burrowing into packs and getting the ball last weekend. Their intensity never dropped off. Once they started winning it clearly, things really started to happen for us on the scoreboard.
I know in juniors we get taught how to kick the ball and mark and handball, all of which are very important.
We learn to lead and where to run.
But what is not so easy to teach is to get in there and be very focused on winning the ball when it is in a contest.
It is more natural in some kids than others to be a leader and impose themselves on the game by getting into the thick of things, but I can guarantee you will enjoy the game more if you put your head and shoulders down over the ball and get in there yourself.
Be inspired by your teammates who get into it to win the contested ball, and copy what they do.
We had 22 guys do that on Saturday night and look what we achieved.
Have a great opening day of footy to you kids in Queensland, and everybody else in Victoria and the other States too whose seasons have already started.
See you next week,
- Jed
