SAM WALSH was pleased to be back on the track for the first day of pre-season.
With the first to fourth years taking the field again today, with some extras, the energy was positive at IKON Park today.
Here's what Walsh had to say.
On Michael Voss:
"'Vossy' is a great character first of all, it’s been great to be able to meet him before day one and he’s been able to get around to a lot of the boys and he seems like a real caring character that’s going to be strong on standards.
"He’s done it all as a player and had some really good experiences as a coach as well so I’m looking forward to picking his brain and a lot of the new coaches that are along with him.
"It’s pretty crazy in the footy world, you grow up looking at these people and now I’m being coached by him. I had a Brisbane Lions guernsey signed by 'Vossy' on my wall, I don’t know if he knows about that."
On the end of the year:
"I think last year towards the end of the year was tough because you don’t get the result you want to and that’s what you play footy for. There were some tough times that led us to this situation but I feel like it’s only going to bring the group closer together.
"The energy day one has been great and we’ve just got to continue that and knuckle down on what we want to stand for and enjoy what we’re doing."
On the midfield rotations:
"You look at the top teams and they have a lot of numbers going through [the midfield], a lot of players that you can rely on and that’s what we need. Competition for spots is going to be great and [the new guys have] come into the Club and worked hard and they’ve got the respect of the boys because they’ve gone about it the right way in the off-season. It’s been great to see them day one present well. I look forward to getting to know them well and starting to gel with those guys."
On changes within the team:
"I think the biggest one for us is really starting to play as a team and play for each other and that comes with playing consistent footy throughout the year and being reliable to each other. There’s plenty of ways you can go about that and you have to put in the work on the track and that starts now.
"From there, you can gain really good confidence and start to create a bit of an identity of what’s going to work for our team. For us, just developing a bit of an identity of what we want to be known for and I’m sure we’ve showed parts of it but we need to be consistent. You look at the best teams, they do it week in and week out and you’ve got to create those habits."
On Sam Docherty:
"It was great. He’s as resilient as they come, everyone knows what he’s been through.
"It’s probably been a really tough time for him, but to see him front up with a smile on his face… he’s always there for the boys. To see him out here is great.
"He said he’s going to ease back into training but he has his mind set that he’s very keen to get back into it."
