Queensland U18 rep, Lachie Weller, gives us his insight into the 2014 rep season.
It was great to get a win against Gippsland last weekend.
We knew we had a good chance against the Power but we thought that against Sandringham too and got beaten pretty easily, so it was fantastic to get up by one point.
The boys were just so excited after the game, and it was especially good because a lot of the boys had their parents down and they were in the rooms after the match.
We had the song words out in the middle of the circle after the game and we were all reading off it, because no one knew the words.
The Queensland song is to the tune of the Richmond song, but we haven’t really heard that one much recently either, so that wasn’t too much help.
As one of the team’s leaders, I tried to make sure the boys didn’t get distracted into ball watching, which tends to be what happens when there’s a lot of pressure on.
Our runner, Jake Ryan, played a massive part in that as well and I’m pretty sure he lost his voice by the end.
I wasn’t really thinking anything in particular when it was tight, but I knew we had been the better team all day so I just thought we’d win it.
You get such an adrenalin rush in those kinds of games and you really do push harder for that win.
I’m not a massive talker really and I tend to try and lead by example, on and off the field.
Talking is still something I’m trying to build into game – just by making myself have the confidence to do that, and I did a lot of it in that game.
Off the field, I’ve never really changed the way I do things, I just try to be myself and I’m always open if anyone wants to chat.
I don’t really know how leaders in the AFL go about things, but having spent part of a pre-season with the SUNS, I think I’m a bit like Gary Ablett in my leadership.
He’s not the loudest guy out there, but he’s always full of knowledge and anything you ask him, he always gives you a good answer.
I like to think I’m a bit like him – I always try to be professional, with things like being the first to start the warm up and that kind of thing.
There are times when you really need to talk though, and that’s in these kinds of games.
Talking brings everyone into the game – you can be the worst player on the day but still have a major influence with your voice.
I’ve had a weekend off footy since the Power game and it’s been good to have a weekend without the knocks and bruises.
I’ve always watched a lot of footy and a lot of replays during the week and recently, I’ve started to watch the midfielders closely to see how they do things.
Dad will sometimes rewind the TV to show how some of the good midfielders set up at stoppages.
I love watching Scott Pendlebury and having had some of my pre-season at the SUNS, I love watching Dave Swallow and Jaeger O’Meara.
You can always find something that they do and get something out of that and I saw firsthand over summer how hard the Gold Coast guys work.
I really look up to those guys.
