IN HIS FIVE years at West Lakes, Luke Jericho has tantalised coaches and fans with glimpses of brilliance without ever really making a name for himself.
You could argue he has been unlucky. In 2006, Jericho missed the entire season with a shoulder injury, and appeared determined to make amends the following year.
The 23-year-old played three-consecutive games in 2007, but after a three-goal haul against Carlton in round nine, he was left out of the side to make way for returning skipper Mark Ricciuto. Jericho was named an emergency 11 times last season, but struggled to secure a regular spot in the Adelaide line-up.
Jericho declared himself on his “last chance” during 2007 and now, on borrowed time, the former West Adelaide junior knows he’s “living on the edge”.
“Every game I’ve played this year, I’ve had the approach of it being my last chance,” Jericho said.
“I have to keep performing and playing as well as I can, whether it was round two against West Coast or this week, I have to go out there and do my best and, hopefully, that will be good enough.
“It’s [living on the edge] not such a bad thing. You don’t get complacent, and I feel like every week I have to prepare to the best of my ability.
“Hopefully, for the rest of the year I can keep playing on the edge and keep performing really well.”
On Saturday, Jericho made the most of veteran forward Brett Burton’s absence and booted five goals in his first outing at the MCG.
Jericho, who missed three weeks after cracking his sternum in round three, provided a spark in attack and showcased his athleticism and unpredictability with a good contested mark and two clever soccer goals.
“I’ve felt a lot more comfortable at the level this year. A few things went my way yesterday, but sometimes you get those days in footy. Hopefully, I can have a few more days like that this year,” Jericho said.
“I feel like I haven’t really played a bad AFL game in a couple of years now, and I know I can play at the level.
“Now, it’s up to me to be able to keep performing when I’ve got the opportunity and, hopefully, I’ll get a few more opportunities this year.”
Jericho has now kicked goals in three of his four games this season, including another bag of goals against Melbourne, after which he was again dropped to make way for returning stars.
The talented junior athlete, who has spent time working on the contested aspect of his game, is all but guaranteed a game next week when Burton serves the second week of his suspension, but Jericho is determined to make this stay in the team a long one.
The Crows will take on Hawthorn at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night, which signals the start of a gruelling six-week period for the club.
“We’re 8-3 at the moment, and we’ve won some good games early in the year,” Jericho said.
“Everyone in the team would agree that our best footy is good enough to be competitive with anyone. We’ve got a tough run over the next few weeks, but if we play the style of footy and the competitive footy we know we can, we’ll be competitive.”
