KEY FORWARD Lucas Cook says boxing has been an important part in building up his confidence as an AFL-listed player.

Although Melbourne’s first pick in last year’s NAB AFL Draft (No.12 overall) has yet to debut - he was drafted as a long-term prospect - Cook is developing strongly via the Casey in the VFL this year.

Cook, along with the rest of the first-year Melbourne players, undertook a two-day boxing camp at Warrnambool. The sessions were held at former Melbourne boxing coach Rod Ryan’s gym. John Bowman, who is now the grappling/boxing coach, oversaw the intense sessions.

But Cook said boxing had already helped his overall fitness and mental strength.
“[I’ve noticed] a fair bit of improvement. I’m still not a superstar, but I’m learning more each session, so I’m getting a lot more out of it,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“I started off pretty ordinary, about eight weeks ago, but I’m trying to get better at it each week. I’m trying to get to as many boxing sessions as I can each week, so the confidence can gradually build up.

“The sessions were pretty intense. I got hit a few times, but I’ll wear that and keep moving on. Hopefully, I can keep getting better.”

The camp wasn’t just focused on boxing, with the first-year players, plus academy coach Kelly O’Donnell and leaders Brent Moloney and Nathan Jones visiting the local hospital and members of the Warrnambool community.

Cook said a visit to teammate Daniel Nicholson’s farm in Derrinallum - more than 180km west of Melbourne - was another enjoyable part of the camp.

“On the way down, we went to Derrinallum and caught up with Nicho’s family and friends there,” he said.

“That was really good, to see where he’d grown up and come from.

“We also went to the beach and did our recovery - the boys went in the water, which was pretty cold - we were supposed to do five minutes, but we did three. The boys got impatient.”