Rohan Kerr Player Column - Round 11

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 latest offering as he conducts a Q and A segment.

QUESTION: How do you players manage with the constant rule changes? (Steve Strahan)

ANSWER: Thanks for the question Steve. At the start of every season the WAFL committee go out and visit each club and explain any new rules that may be implemented or existing rules they are cracking down on, so as a player you are been made aware of the new rules or basically what the umpires have been told. But it does create a little bit of confusion in players heads on whether you go or don’t go. But they are a part of the game and they are not always rules I agree with but you just have to adapt the best you can. Hopefully not too many rules are being tinkered with and we can all enjoy the game we love!

Q: Do you think you will ever be drafted again into another AFL team? (Jamie Miles)

ANSWER: Hey Jamie thanks for the question. Yeah look it's something everyone who plays footy aspires to do to be on an AFL list and I’m no exception. Being at Carlton definitely was a great experience and I learnt a lot. I think if given the opportunity again I'll probably be better off this time round given that I know exactly what's expected. It's something I haven't ruled out but at the end of the day I can only control what I can do right now on and off the football field and if that's enough to be back on a AFL list than that's great but right now I’m very happy to be at the West Perth Football Club.

Q: When you played East Perth on the weekend, did you find added pressure due to the AFL players in their side? How do you compare it to games playing the non-aligned clubs? (John Holmes)

ANSWER: Cheers for the question John. No, not at all did we find added pressure playing against East Perth on the weekend. We probably had the ideal preparation leading up to that game coming off the Foxtel Cup win against Box Hill and the week after the win against Peel which both teams had several AFL listed players in their side. We prepared for the East Perth game no different to what we would to any other game. Every game week to week is difficult in the WAFL because it is such a strong competition and as a club you really need to be at your best consistently if you want to remain at the top end of the ladder. 

Q: Do you find that members or supporters place too high an expectation on a) you as an individual and b) the team as a whole? And if so, is this annoying or do you use it to climb to a higher standard? (Mike Wright)

ANSWER: Thanks Mike, I'll start off with the team. I guess people set expectations on us because they know we are capable of achieving at a very high standard. Coming off winning the premiership last year there are bound to be a high level of expectations from supporters and even in the media, but as a playing group we don’t feel as if they are too high. We use all criticism in a positive way and definitely use it to climb to a higher standard and expectation. We know at our best we are a very good team and are capable of beating anyone and we know we aren’t far off playing our best football which is very exciting. 

Personally, I have high expectations on my performance and every week I have goals I like to achieve and if I can do that consistently to a high standard then I know I have done my bit for the team which ultimately that's what it's all about. 

I just want to give 100% in every game I play to repay the West Perth Football Club for giving me the opportunity to move over and play for this proud club. 

Thank you all for the questions and support and I hope I see you all down at the Showground Saturday afternoon as we take on Claremont.

Over and out.