BigBlog

Please be advised that i’m no longer blogging here but you can find my new, improved and “very exciting” blog at http://lukeball.beinvolved.com.au/ Hope to see you there soon...!!

It may be an old cliché that premierships are not won in March or April, but it’s also a true one.

Despite winning the first two matches of the year over Sydney and Adelaide we are not getting carried away and, using another cliché, are taking things week by week.

Having said that a couple more wins in a row wouldn’t hurt either. It’s always better to be in the eight rather than chasing the top teams.

What I have been really happy with so far this season is the effort and commitment of everyone in the team in the way they have been ‘hard at the footy’ in the two games so far. We have had two tough matches to open the season and have really put in the effort for each other and I hope it continues.

Whilst it is never easy to go to AAMI Stadium and knock off the Crows, winning there after the tough display they produced against Collingwood in round one was a huge result.

Speaking of round one our victory over the Sydney Swans may not have been pretty to watch but it was one game I will always remember.

The round one encounter is the most physical footy game I have ever played in my life! I came out of that game very, very sore and was not the only one, we all knew we had been in a battle.

Whilst I think there is a trend for fans to love the high scoring battles where there is some good looking football played, I also think there is definitely a place in the game for old school matches where the bodies are flying in everywhere and toughness wins out.

This week we are playing a West Coast Eagles side who will be growing in confidence after a good win over Port Adelaide at the weekend.

West Coast are a team who I really see as capable of doing a lot of damage this year and being a top eight side.

Last year they were decimated by injuries, but this year it isn’t the case and the likes of Daniel Kerr and Dean Cox have begun the year playing some good footy. What some people tend to forget is, despite the lack of Chris Judd and Ben Cousins, the Eagles still have 13 premiership players in their squad and that makes them dangerous, particularly if they get their tails up early.

Dean Cox is without a question the best ruckman in the game and the way he can impact a game is massive so we need to shut him down. The fact he moves like a midfielder with a 2 metre frame makes him a more challenging proposition.

This weekend will mark the first time Dean and our own former West Coast ruckman Michael Gardiner clash. Both have been All Australian players and their battle should be one of the highlights of the game.

The big drama from the weekend came when Richmond defender Luke McGuane punched a Cam Mooney goal into the crowd and a free kick was awarded right in front of the goals which Tom Hawkins duly converted.

I didn’t see it but have to say it’s not the fault of the umpires. They awarded the free kick as per the rules of the game. I feel for Luke McGuane and the Tigers but the rules are the rules and they broke them.

Is the penalty too harsh? Well that’s for the AFL to decide at the end of the year. I have heard discussion it should be a free kick from the centre of the field and maybe it should, but for now I think it serves as a reminder to all of us not to let frustrations get the better of us when on the field.

Off the field I have been watching my filly Jeune de Coeur go round and after getting its first city win at Moonee Valley on March 20, I was a little disappointed in the performance at Caulfield on Saturday when she was beaten by Marveen, but apparently she didn’t really handle the dead ground.

Hoping to see plenty of Saints’ fans this weekend as we tackle the Eagles.

Luke

Time flies doesn’t it, and here we are at the beginning of AFL season 2009.

I can’t see much changing this year. I believe last season’s grand finalists are the benchmarks of the competition and the challenge is for everyone else, including us at St Kilda, to chase them down.

How do we do that? We try and improve our game by identifying our weaknesses and strengths and working on them, whilst looking to expose theirs. Of course a few injuries to Geelong and Hawthorn wouldn’t hurt the cause either, but having struggled with injury myself I’m not wishing that on anyone.

Speaking of injuries for the first time I can remember I have had a pre-season without any hiccups or niggles whatsoever and feel I am well and truly ready for the season ahead. I feel better than I ever have coming through the trial games but you never know how fit you truly are until you are out in the thick of the action.

I’ll find that out on Saturday night when we take on the Sydney Swans at Etihad Stadium.

The Swans have been our first round opponents in at least the last two seasons and it’s never an easy opening encounter. Sydney is a team who always put up a tough fight and this year they have some very good youngsters who I believe will make a big impact.

Looking at their pre-season matches Sydney have been a more attacking side than in the past and kicked some big scores, so we will need to stop their attack and get some good transitional play going.

We’ll have to do it without Max Hudghton as well. Max picked up a calf injury in the last trial, but aside from him and Sean Dempster, who is out for a while with his knee, we have a very fit squad to choose from.  

I’d say Matt McGuire may also miss round one, but he is right to go, it’s just a matter of getting some match practice in for him and whether that is in firsts or seconds is up to the coaching staff.

While I have spoken about the Swans having some young players who can do well this year, I believe we do too and we are also boasting a significantly younger squad after recent retirements of the likes of Fraser Gehrig and Robert Harvey.

The retirement of Harvs has made the place different. Harvs was always a pretty quiet guy but he had been here for 21 years so the place without him is a bit weird.

Having said that we can’t dwell on it. Rob has moved on and so should we. I can’t lie, I was surprised when I first heard he would be working for Carlton but after 21 years he probably needs a change to see how other clubs operate and I know him well enough to know he won’t spill any of our secrets.

As for our youngsters I have been very impressed with our first and second draft picks Tom Lynch and Nick Heyne and both should be in the mix for selection for round one.

I also think it’s time that a few young guys need to step up at the club. Jack Steven, Jarryn Geary and David Armitage are all guys who I think should be taking their next step in terms of footy this season.

With the new season comes some rule changes and, whilst I don’t think either rule change is necessarily a bad idea, I am a purist at heart and don’t believe the AFL need to be tinkering with the rules of the game too much.

Of course the big rule change is the rushed behinds rule and while a part of me thinks it’s a bit of a knee jerk reaction to Hawthorn in the Grand Final and Joel Bowden running the ball over the line for Richmond late in the 2008 season, I also think it’s a good rule and helps to keep the game flowing along.

I just hope the AFL doesn’t make changes to the game for the sake of making changes.

Speaking of making changes I have to finalise my Toyota AFL Dream Team this week and make sure I knock off Luke Hodge.

I reckon there are some real bargains to be had in the game. North Melbourne’s Jack Ziebell and Brisbane Lions’ Tom Collier are at the top of my list.

I’ve put a couple of teammates of mine in and think Sammy Fisher and Brendon Goddard are in for big years. No pressure fellas, but I will wield the axe.

I think the key may be the midfield and have allowed myself some expensive luxuries in there making Gary Ablett and Chris Judd my first two players selected.

Hopefully we can start the season with a dominant win.

Luke

We will never see another Robert Harvey!

That is the one overriding thought I have had this week. I don’t think anyone could even dream of having a 21 year career or anything close to it in this day and age.
 
As the curtain came down on Rob’s legendary career last weekend I felt an overwhelming sadness and disappointment. Sadness that Rob went out without winning a premiership when he deserved one and disappointment that I was not able to be out there on the field with him.

I was very close to playing but at the end of the day the decision was taken out of my hands as the club felt that taking the risk with a guy who hadn’t done a lot of training in such a big game was too big a one.

St Kilda footy club will certainly be a different place without R. Harvey on the list, but at least Rob got to go out on his terms.

Unlike Scotty West who was delisted by the Bulldogs this week. He has been one of the greats of that club and for him to leave in that way would be a huge disappointment for him personally. Hopefully if Scott so desires he can pick up a new deal elsewhere in 2009.

Earlier this week I attended the Brownlow with my girlfriend Amy, who looked great in a dress by her designer. As a result she did some media with A Current Affair and I don’t think she really enjoyed the media, but those are the things you have to do.

Later on in the night Adam Cooney took out the award and while he got a good reception I think the whole room was cheering for Matthew Richardson. Every time Richo got votes the place erupted.

As for me I was cheering for Gary Ablett. I thought he was the best player this year and deserved the Brownlow. For the second straight year he was just pipped at the post and it was his teammates who cost him votes. Ah the irony.

I wasn’t shocked at how well Simon Black polled. He is one of the most prolific pollers in my memory. I don’t know what the umpires look for, but whatever it is the Brisbane Lions star has it!

With the Grand Final on tomorrow I will be watching it with a few mates as we enjoy a BBQ, it’s a bit of a ritual but I wouldn’t mind playing in one.

The two best teams all year are playing off and the gulf between them and the rest is quite large. They deserve to be there.

A few weeks ago I would have said Geelong hands down, but after the way Hawthorn beat us last week I think they can mount a real challenge to Geelong.

I also think they would be breathing a sigh of relief that David Wojcinski was the man to get the axe from the Geelong 22.

It’s a decision I don’t understand. Wojcinski may have been out for a long time with injury but I thought he was good enough last week to stay in the side and he is electric. There is no faster man in the AFL than the Cats defender and his running and delivery frequently hurt opposition sides.

If I were in charge I probably would have elected to drop Travis Varcoe. That’s not a knock on Varcoe but Paul Chapman is a small forward, and so is Varcoe I would have swapped like for like.

As for my tip I will say Geelong by a couple of goals.

Luke

I’m still struggling with the injury that I got a couple of weeks ago against Port Adelaide. I ended up tearing my hamstring so that was really disappointing. It’s the first time I have injured my hammy so it’s all new to me … and really painful!

Having said that, the injury is progressing along well and we’re putting a lot of effort into getting it right. But obviously it meant I missed the weekend’s game against Collingwood. That was disappointing and I will probably miss another couple of weeks, so it’s pretty frustrating.

So the last couple of weeks have basically been about trying recover from the injury. I’m having a bit of a run, hopefully, this week, but I really want to get back on the field. Having said that, there are only three regular season games left and, although we are well in the mix for the semis, I’m racing the clock a bit. The aim is to be back for round 22 against Essendon.

This injury was done in unusual circumstances. I went up in the air, got hit by one of our players on the way down and sort of twisted weirdly and my leg went back over my head. It wasn’t very nice.I struggled to walk during the first week after it happened and you just don’t realise how much you use a muscle such as that. It’s a real reality check.

The thing with hamstring injuries, I’ve been told, is that you have to make sure it’s right before you start getting back out there. If you don’t manage the recovery properly it can become a chronic thing, so I have to be careful and do things right. So I’ll be making sure it’s 100 percent before I come back. It’s a bit of a tough situation because I want to come back as soon as possible but I don’t want to risk things.

In terms of the Collingwood game last week, we were pretty disappointed. It was a big game and a win would have put us two games clear and well entrenched us in the eight. And there was also the added incentive of Robert Harvey announcing he will retire at the end of the year. He’s been arguably St Kilda’s best ever player, a real role model at the club, and for us to come out of the blocks so flat the other night so flat like we did wasn’t brilliant.

Our skill level was down, we turned the ball over a lot, and Collingwood capitalised. It wasn’t until the third quarter that we got our act together but by that time it was basically too late., yYou can’t give a team a start like that.

While we ended up only losing by a couple of goals it was still very disappointing. But we’ve dealt with that game now and we have to turn our attention to Fremantle this week. We have to recover as quickly as we can and get back on the winner’s list this week.

That game is being played over in Perth and, because of my injury, I won’t be travelling over with the boys, I’ll have to watch it on television, and believe me, I’m not a very good spectator. Last week was the first game I’ve missed all year and it was very difficult. Not much fun. You just feel incredibly helpless when you can’t get out there and I’m sure I’ll be screaming at the TV on the weekend! Every footballer will tell you the worst part about being injured is you can’t be out there and contributing. It’s a double-edged thing … when they win you feel good but bad that you’re not there, when they lose you feel bad because you couldn’t be involved.

But anyway, I just have to concentrate on getting myself better and think about that stuff later. On a positive side, because I haven‘t been able to be too active, I’ve managed to watch a whole lot of the Olympics. It’s good to have something on TV, that’s for sure, and I love the Games. I’ll be glued to them over the next week and a bit and I’m really looking forward to the athletics, that’s probably my favourite competition.