OK, HERE’S the scenario.
You’ve waited more than five years to play your first official AFL match.
And when you do get your chance, you play on … Gary Ablett.
Think that’s hard enough?
Then you’re given Simon Black later in the night.
If that’s the stuff of dreams - or nightmares for some - then that’s exactly what confronted first-year Demon rookie Tom Couch on Saturday night at Metricon Stadium.
But for the 23 year-old, it was the experience he craved.
“Playing on Gary Ablett and Simon Black - I really had to pinch myself there,” Couch told melbournefc.com.au.
“From the warm-up to the game, I really enjoyed it.
“And to play with the players you’ve been training with over the last four months - everything was somewhat surreal.”
Couch was no stranger to Ablett though, with their respective fathers Geelong greats. Their association went way back, as Couch explained.
“I think Gaz was going through the motions and he still killed it,” Couch said with a laugh and then a shake of the head in awe of Ablett.
“He lived a couple of houses down when we were growing up, so we used to have a bit of a kick in the backyard.”
Asked if Ablett spoke to him during the match, Couch said, “Not really, he just said well done and good luck.”
After being overlooked in several drafts and carving his career via the SANFL (Glenelg) and VFL (Collingwood), Couch said to realise he had played an official AFL match was “a buzz”.
“You always wonder what it would be like to play in an AFL environment,” he said.
“It was different to playing in front of 50,000 at the MCG, but the crowd was getting into it.
“It was really enjoyable. I was that nervous leading up to it - just excited.”
Couch said the biggest difference he noticed was the amount of space on the ground, and the similarities between training.
“And it almost felt like a training drill in a way - particularly with the way we’ve practiced the zone and our structures,” he said.
“It was like the way we’ve trained all summer.
“The boys were really good out there. They had plenty of talk and communication and the guys made it a lot easier.”
Couch said midfield assistant coach Aaron Greaves was quick to offer post-match feedback.
“He went over a few things, but we’ll go into depth later on Monday,” he said.
“There are a couple of things I need to work on, and there were a couple of things I did right.
“You know yourself how you went, but it was good to get feedback after the game to see how they [coaching staff] thought you went.”
Couch is now eager to push his claims for the start of the premiership season.
“I’m just taking it as it comes. I just need to keep training hard and if I get another opportunity, I need to press my claims again,” he said.
“That was a taste of it and you want that adrenaline rush again, so I’ll be trying to get a couple of games in before round one to try and push my claims for round one.”
You’ve waited more than five years to play your first official AFL match.
And when you do get your chance, you play on … Gary Ablett.
Think that’s hard enough?
Then you’re given Simon Black later in the night.
If that’s the stuff of dreams - or nightmares for some - then that’s exactly what confronted first-year Demon rookie Tom Couch on Saturday night at Metricon Stadium.
But for the 23 year-old, it was the experience he craved.
“Playing on Gary Ablett and Simon Black - I really had to pinch myself there,” Couch told melbournefc.com.au.
“From the warm-up to the game, I really enjoyed it.
“And to play with the players you’ve been training with over the last four months - everything was somewhat surreal.”
Couch was no stranger to Ablett though, with their respective fathers Geelong greats. Their association went way back, as Couch explained.
“I think Gaz was going through the motions and he still killed it,” Couch said with a laugh and then a shake of the head in awe of Ablett.
“He lived a couple of houses down when we were growing up, so we used to have a bit of a kick in the backyard.”
Asked if Ablett spoke to him during the match, Couch said, “Not really, he just said well done and good luck.”
After being overlooked in several drafts and carving his career via the SANFL (Glenelg) and VFL (Collingwood), Couch said to realise he had played an official AFL match was “a buzz”.
“You always wonder what it would be like to play in an AFL environment,” he said.
“It was different to playing in front of 50,000 at the MCG, but the crowd was getting into it.
“It was really enjoyable. I was that nervous leading up to it - just excited.”
Couch said the biggest difference he noticed was the amount of space on the ground, and the similarities between training.
“And it almost felt like a training drill in a way - particularly with the way we’ve practiced the zone and our structures,” he said.
“It was like the way we’ve trained all summer.
“The boys were really good out there. They had plenty of talk and communication and the guys made it a lot easier.”
Couch said midfield assistant coach Aaron Greaves was quick to offer post-match feedback.
“He went over a few things, but we’ll go into depth later on Monday,” he said.
“There are a couple of things I need to work on, and there were a couple of things I did right.
“You know yourself how you went, but it was good to get feedback after the game to see how they [coaching staff] thought you went.”
Couch is now eager to push his claims for the start of the premiership season.
“I’m just taking it as it comes. I just need to keep training hard and if I get another opportunity, I need to press my claims again,” he said.
“That was a taste of it and you want that adrenaline rush again, so I’ll be trying to get a couple of games in before round one to try and push my claims for round one.”
