AFTER two frustrated seasons marred by injury, young Demon Sam Blease says it was a relief to finally play his first official match for the club against Port Adelaide in the second NAB Cup game at AAMI Stadium on Friday night.
Although Blease was a substitute and had limited exposure against the Power, he said to run out in a senior match was a great experience.
“I was good. I’ve missed two years of footy effectively. I got 16 or 17 games in the VFL last year, but when you look at where I was this time last year, I was that far off playing senior footy - I wasn’t even walking at this stage,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“It’s a good reward for me to be able to do it at this stage and do the pre-season. It was good to start the season off well and get a bit of a runaround.
“I knew I was only going to play a bit of game-time, but it was good to get my first kick at this level, so hopefully there are a few more to come.”
Blease suffered a nasty broken leg in 2009 - his first season at the club - after being selected at No.17 in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft. He conceded he wondered if he would ever play for the for the red and blue after that injury.
“At some points, you do doubt yourself, but I’ve had some pretty good people around me at the club and outside of it that I’ve been able to talk to,” Blease said.
“I’ve been able to get my mental state right and now my physical state is right as well.
“Hopefully it will be good from here.”
Blease relished the opportunity to play on seasoned AFL players: Power duo Brett Ebert and Daniel Motlop.
“It was good. I got to play on players that have played a lot of senior AFL footy, like Ebert and Motlop. It’s good to see their leading patterns and how they go about it,” he said.
“But it was good to finally play with the boys that you train with week after week.
“There was nothing better than that.”
Although Blease was a substitute and had limited exposure against the Power, he said to run out in a senior match was a great experience.
“I was good. I’ve missed two years of footy effectively. I got 16 or 17 games in the VFL last year, but when you look at where I was this time last year, I was that far off playing senior footy - I wasn’t even walking at this stage,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“It’s a good reward for me to be able to do it at this stage and do the pre-season. It was good to start the season off well and get a bit of a runaround.
“I knew I was only going to play a bit of game-time, but it was good to get my first kick at this level, so hopefully there are a few more to come.”
Blease suffered a nasty broken leg in 2009 - his first season at the club - after being selected at No.17 in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft. He conceded he wondered if he would ever play for the for the red and blue after that injury.
“At some points, you do doubt yourself, but I’ve had some pretty good people around me at the club and outside of it that I’ve been able to talk to,” Blease said.
“I’ve been able to get my mental state right and now my physical state is right as well.
“Hopefully it will be good from here.”
Blease relished the opportunity to play on seasoned AFL players: Power duo Brett Ebert and Daniel Motlop.
“It was good. I got to play on players that have played a lot of senior AFL footy, like Ebert and Motlop. It’s good to see their leading patterns and how they go about it,” he said.
“But it was good to finally play with the boys that you train with week after week.
“There was nothing better than that.”
