Q: HOW have you rated your own form so far this season?

A: I started off a bit slow and a bit indifferently, but I’ve definitely picked up over the last month or so.

What caused that turnaround in form?

I wasn’t playing well because I think I was just going into the games with the wrong mindset and I really had to have a sit down with the coaches – especially the midfield coach Paul Williams – and we just simplified my focus. We just simplified my focus to playing hard footy and I did that and since then it’s been coming together a lot better.

Why do you think your season got off on the wrong foot?

I don’t know, who knows with footy? We weren’t winning too many games in the praccy matches and early on in the season I think you can tend to let negatives come into your head a bit too much, especially if you’re a young player. I just had to learn how to focus on the positives and clear my head a bit more.

A case of the dreaded second-year blues maybe?

I knew about that but I wanted to prove that it was wrong and that it wasn’t going to happen to me. I guess even when you do start playing well, you get a bit worried like, ‘oh maybe it is happening to me’, but you can’t afford to worry about it. Like I said, I just decided to stop and think positively and try and turn it into a good season. I want to look back on this season and know I’ve tried my best.

You were named as an emergency for the Fremantle game before being included late; did nearly getting dropped act as a spur for you?

Definitely. Whether I was dropped or not, I would have gone back to Sandy and found some form and I would have gone in with the same focus, but I was lucky enough to stay in that side and get a little bit better and slowly improve every week since then. It’s been good to bounce back from that setback and I’ve definitely learned a lot from it.

You’ve been close to getting that first win in the last fortnight, what do you need to get over the line?

It’s a good question, we’ve definitely been playing a lot better lately, but it’s just little lapses that have cost us. We had that little lapse in the second quarter against the Bulldogs that probably cost us the game in the end. I think we’ve been getting the ball a lot outside forward 50 and we think we just need to use it a bit better and get a bit more reward for our hard work, to just be a bit smarter with how we go inside 50. But we think our effort lately has been really good and we can go with that into the West Coast game and have a real good chance of winning.

It helps when you’ve got the likes of David Neitz and Aaron Davey starting to play some good football.

Neita’s a great leader and a good focal point down forward, so it’s good to look up and have him there as a target. Aaron Davey has been playing amazingly, he had a great game on the weekend, he was just ‘Mr Everywhere’. He’s a good story because he started off the season not how he would’ve liked and he’s definitely bounced back like a lot of us have to.

Word around the traps is that you, personally, really don’t take a loss that well. Is that true?

[Laughs] I’m just like anyone, you’re in it to compete and you’re in it to win. Life’s no good when you’re losing, but you can’t get too down about it because that’s not going to help anyone. We’ve just got to keep believing that we can turn it around, I think we’re slowly doing that. I think we’re trying to prove that we’re a team not to be underestimated and we’re just searching for that first win.

How has Neale Daniher been during all this?

He’s been fantastic, we all look to him to see how he’s reacting and he’s been leading us really well and been keeping really positive and keeping the belief in the group. All the coaches have been really good.

What are you working on to make sure you stay in the side and keep improving as a player?

I just want to keep playing as a forward and keep presenting and giving the boys outside 50 an option. I’ve just got to keep my workrate high – that’s what’s been helping me lately – and I’ve got to keep attacking the footy hard. I’ll just try and keep it simple and have a crack when it’s my turn.