ROHAN KERR PLAYER COLUMN – ROUND 7

A WEST Perth premiership player will be writing a column for the club's website every week of the 2014 WAFL season. This week's edition is Rohan Kerr's second offering.

THIS week, I am definitely looking forward to getting back to Melbourne. I am flying over a bit earlier on Friday to watch the Carlton-Collingwood game and it will be good to see some friends and family. I will then meet up with the rest of the boys on Monday night and then we will run out on Tuesday night against Box Hill.

When I first moved over to Perth I went back to Melbourne two weeks later because unfortunately my dad passed away, so I did go back to be with the family for a few weeks. Ever since then, though, I have only been back when my sister got married last October and I got back once during last year. I haven’t been back as much as you would think or I would like, but I have been back when I could and I still keep in contact with them all pretty much every day. I would like to get back more, but with the time frame I have with work and footy it makes it a bit hard.

It probably won't be the weekend back in Melbourne that I would ideally like and it will have to be a bit more professional given we have a game to play on Tuesday, but it will be good to get back to see everyone in my family and my friends. It will be good to also get back to see some local footy that I used to play and I will also catch up with some Carlton boys.

I have had the chance to play at Etihad Stadium a few times as well so I am looking forward to getting back there. I played there when I was 17 in the under-18 grand final, in the NAB Cup games for Carlton against Richmond and Collingwood, and I've actually done all right on Etihad. We'll see how I go again this week and see if it's kind to me again.

As a ground, the space there is pretty similar to the grounds we play on here but the conditions are actually a lot quicker with the roof being closed. It's a lot more free-flowing which I think will suit us more than a Box Hill VFL team who pay more in-close and contested footy. Hopefully we can get the game on our terms, play how we want to play and come away with the win.

The bigger stage the better really for a lot of us. Last year we had a lot of boys who had never had played on Patersons Stadium before the grand final, but that was very exciting and that turned out well for us. So I think this week will be similar and I think everyone is looking forward to playing there. I think everyone will be more excited than daunted about playing there.

I actually think there will be a few guys, maybe 10 or 15, who I will know in the Box Hill team who I have played with or against throughout some stage of my career. It will be good to see them roll out again and I'll make sure I give them a few words of advice. I played with Mitch Hallahan but he has played with Hawthorn lately but I'm sure I will find some other guys I'm familiar with when we get there.

Given the game is on national TV, a few of the guys are really up and about for that and I reckon big Steven Browne will especially look forward to trying to kick a few from 70 at Etihad with the roof being closed. He will be back in front of his missus' family so I reckon he will be pretty keen to impress.

I am actually looking forward to the game and spending some time away with the boys. It's always good to mix up the year with something different and it's a good bonding experience for the boys to get away and gel some more. Some of us might not know each other that well, but to spend that time together helps your relationships grow and that can only be a good thing. It's a short holiday, but it is a holiday nonetheless and I think it will refresh the minds a bit and it will be good.

I haven’t been away with any of these boys before so it will be a brand new experience for me. We had a couple of day's course at Bruce Rock when I first got here, but I haven’t had the chance to get away interstate or overseas with any of these guys so I am looking forward to it.

One thing we do have to be mindful of is the fact that we have a short turnaround to playing Peel next Sunday, but we have full faith on the training and coaching staff at this club. All the boys are diligent with their rehab as well so I'm sure we will all do the right things to get ready for Peel when we come back and play on Arena Joondalup. 

BY ROHAN KERR