IN THEIR WORDS – DREW ROHDE ROUND 7

AARON Black, Jay van Berlo and Max Duffy all have a few things in common - all three are superstars on the field and all three have previously tried their hands at writing the infamous 'In Their Words column'.

All three have attempted to raise the bar set by Laine 'Make sure you floss' Rasmussen when it comes to voicing their views and opinions on how the season is tracking for the club, as well as voicing their goals for the near future and the rest of the season.

When the club threw me the baton and asked me to write this week's article, I was both nervous and optimistic. Will I be able to compete with the big boys on the journalism front? Or will I fail miserably like Trent 'Smeagol' Manzone’s new juice plus diet? I guess we will find out.

The last two weeks have been very positive for the club, with two wins in a row, the first against Swans at Bassendean and the most recent out in Kulin against Claremont for the club's 2016 country fixture.

Shane 'Chewy' Nelson returned against Swans for his first game of the season. After deciding his MMA career wasn’t going anywhere Nelly has been a very welcome addition into the midfield over the last two weeks with big clearance advantages in both wins.

Dean 'The Glove' Munns has also been very impressive in tagging roles in his first two games, claiming two big scalps. After being very disappointed that Claremont wouldn’t let him on their bus with Jye Bolton for the trip home last weekend it was rumoured that 'The Glove' in fact set up camp outside his residence, just to make sure he didn’t get another touch.

Luke 'Utility' Meadows has been outstanding the last two weeks and after gathering 33 disposals last week has refused to talk to anyone who isn’t in the 30 club.

Andrew 'Plugga' Strijk and Joel 'Give me BOG' Leeson where also outstanding last week with four goals each to add further scoring options on top of the likes of Mike 'The Worker' Lourey, Mark 'Just Run' Hamilton and Max 'Duffman' Duffy. 

After being criticised for the amount of profanities being expressed in many recent quarter, half and three quarter-time addresses, Jay has promised to tone it down when talking about the opposition and their cheesy grins. The likes of Aidan 'Sauce' Lynch and Nick 'Banjo' Rodda have both been rumoured to have pre-written addresses to potentially be used as inspiration in coming weeks if needed. 

With the return of key players in Laine Rasmussen, Joe 'Running Man' Morrow, Luke ‘The Suit’ Tedesco and Christopher ‘Migraine’ Keunen in the coming weeks after the bye, competition for spots is at its optimum.

Matt 'Where’s my Crane' Fowler is also eyeing off a return in the not too distant future. While his injury is still yet to be diagnosed, whispers have been floating around that it was a resultant bruised tail bone sustained in a recent trip to Rotto with Moose.

Pressure from the youngsters in the reserves in Mitch 'Ironing Board' Peirce, Mitchell 'Call me Jack Anthony' Antonio as well as many others is a positive sign for the club. With everyone playing their role, in both grades, and bring the level of intensity, effort and execution shown over the last couple of weeks, both grades should have the utmost confidence in getting the desired results, no matter who’s on the park or what opposition is faced.
 
As Round 8 fast approaches and the first third of the 2016 WAFL season is almost done and dusted, we find ourselves sitting at three wins and four losses heading into a massive clash with Peel Thunder at HBF Arena this Saturday. Peel are sitting well in third spot on the ladder and this week presents as a massive opportunity for us to even up the ledger and head into our first bye at 4-4 with three wins on the trot.

The coaching staff and the playing group have great confidence that our season has turned for the better after a poor start to the year and with a rising sense of belief and hopefully a win this weekend we will be able to take some momentum and hunger into the middle portion of the season.

I hope to see you all at the game this Saturday! 

Carn West