'Really excited to launch into the back part of the year' | Caleb Serong

enjoyed the weekend it's great weekend always uh always nice with the Saturday wi you yet Sunday to to enjoy it and have a bit of downtime which is great but yeah we you move on pretty quick what do you do with your medals ah got a little tub at home that they're they're sitting in but yeah not a heap to be honest so it's just literally so not on display just no no not on display at the moment no I don't think I'd ever put any on display while I still playing maybe afterwards there's a bit of reflection after I finish up but now they're in a in a box away somewhere what is it about the deres that make you live though uh I I'd like to think that um I don't I don't lift to kind of the game or I just like to think I repeat the way I play week in week out and that's something that I've worked pretty heavily on with uh my mental skills and um work with yeah Sports psychologists and whatnot and that's a big focus is uh when we when we do get to Grand final day whenever that is um I don't feel like I want to be able to have to lift to that occasion I want to every time I train every time I play I want to be doing it at that level and that intensity that I'm ready to go when that that time comes like has that been a consistent thing from Junior all the way through is that something new you've done no that's that's pretty that's um in the late up to last year uh I kind of touched on it a fair bit at the end of last season has and credited a lot of the the Improvement in my game to and the consistency to that work that I've done and it hasn't changed that's stayed pretty consistent throughout the last 18 24 months so um yeah continue to to work in that space it's I think a lot of guys and a lot of guys across the lead League are probably investing more and more time in that as as we go along and I've been no different I've found a great great Improvement in my own game in that space is that actually more important now than a lot of the fitness and skills unless just getting your head ready for the pressure that's going to come it's just as important no doubt um I think you can have the physical side of the game down pat and then theal de side if that doesn't isn't at the same level or doesn't contribute in in a positive way you can yeah it can affect the way you play No Doubt and for me I felt like um leading into last year um my high level stuff was at a level that I thought I could be a really high level contributor at AFL level and um I just didn't do it week in week out and that was something that I wanted to go to work on and and be a consistent player and that's something that I I really pride myself on is been a to sh the same week in week out no matter the content no matter the opposition and um I feel like as a group that's something we're striving for as well so um yeah I've I credit a lot of the the work and the Improvement in my game to what I've done in that space how fresh are you feeling physically kind long season obviously you know you've had that forward rotation going on is it keeping you fresh bloody physical game on the weekend so s today but from a general point of view um yeah I think I'm in a really good space and uh last week six day break quick turnaround felt really good going to the game and obviously got day break this week so bit of a longer longer break few more days for recovery so um from a general holistic point of view feeling really good and really excited to launch into the the back part of the year cuz um yeah you can get to this point of the Year sometimes and I've experienced it and you're pretty banged up you're pretty sore you're kind of waiting for the end but I definitely don't feel like I'm in that space I feel like I'm feeling as good as I I did around five as I do now so um yeah I've I'm in a good space I think is that rotation having a similar impact for your other midfielders you think I think so I don't I don't know exactly the the specific impact it has but I know that when we're in there on game day we're fresh and we're ready to go and it's definitely contributing to our intensity in there um and I feel like it's helping the team as well I don't think JL would let us do that if it was negatively affecting the way we're going about it and if we were getting interet marked against and we were getting smashed down there when we go forward so I think we're we're having an impact when we go down there and that's only helping the group but yeah credit to the forwards they're putting us exact where we need we need to be and and they're helping us a lot down there the leaders down there so it's making a lot easier for us to go down there and just play footy and not think too much about what we need to do but I feel like yeah as a Midfield group you seeing Andy now kind of physically starting to feel like he's in a really good space and that's that's just contributing to what he's doing on game day like his last six weeks been amazing and um you can see that he's getting a lot more trust in his body which is great the Midfield might look a bit different this week than that going to the tribunal tomorrow night how worried are you about you know l m Johnson there one out potentially lose F there's another out and suddenly the the consistency what you've had isn't there yeah you're right we've had a really consistent group kind of be there and be available throughout the year and obviously the The Rock situation kind of Sean's been in and out a little bit and Luke's been in there but as a Midfield group we've been pretty consistent and hopefully I'm counting on FY getting off and hopefully he's out there with us on the weekend he's been a great contributor to us and role player over the last this whole season and um John I hopefully hopefully he's back in the next week or two as well and he's he's tracking along nicely but um I think for us we've got an next-man up M mentality we've got Neil Rasmus and will Brody in the in the waffle that are playing some serious footy and they have all year and they're just waiting for an opportunity they're tonging at the bit so if they get an opportunity they'll be uh doing everything they can to play a role for the team and do what they need to and and if it's someone else coming up and playing a little bit inside time swi has done that Luke Jackson's wait a little bit inside time so if we need to mix the magnets around everyone knows the RO and everyone can contribute but I feel like we've got the guys there um in stable ready to go if we need to what was your reaction when you heard that name being sup like you wouldn't have seen no I didn't say it I was a bit surprised I didn't say it I knew there was going to be a lot of FS coming out of the game but I didn't didn't realize it was going to be suspension so um yeah didn't didn't have a good look at it and even the vision you I couldn't really see it so hopefully uh all goes well and he can get off and he can fight it but we'll leave that to the lawyers K you talked about the physicality of the game outside the melee that's a separate issue but is that that's a sort of the physicality is what you're looking for at this time of season you don't want to be having like soft opponents and soft wins you want to really be pushing themselves heading into finals yeah it was uh it was a finals like game like credit to West Coast what they brought in the contest with their pressure and and team defense was um was high level it was high level and it was something that we we were we thought would happen we thought that was what that were going to bring and I felt like I was really proud of the way that we dealt with it and um the the first quarter probably there was a few times where we didn't deal with it super well but then our ability adjusting game and I guess come out in the second quarter and whil it didn't turn on the scoreboard straight away we felt like that second quarter we played the game the way we wanted to and then come the third quarter we felt like we busted it open with our footy and our commitment to the contest and just continuing to I guess smash that and um just trust what we do and and what we can bring to the game really in that contest space but yeah credit to them they brought a high intensity game and and that's you're right that is what we want to do and what we want to be exposed to this time of year cuz um the next four weeks five weeks everything that's every team's got everything to play for and the next uh few opponents they're all in that race for finals in the same boat as us and it's going to be high intensity it's going to be high quality games and and that's something we're ready to embrace and enjoy way you're moving the foot at the moment Caleb and using your hand ball do you feel like you're in a good space as a team with the way you're doing that through the corridor yeah it's been an intent for us to do that for a while um and if you look at the the amount of hand walls we've had competive kicks over the last few years it's it's what we want to do we want to use our numbers we feel like we're a high work rate team that support contests and then from that we feel like we at number at those contests and we want to use our numbers because otherwise we're just going to kick it back to their numbers if we just kick it back so we set the ground up to be able to drive to the corridor and use our numbers and really take the game on with that space and driving our legs and um I feel like what you're seeing now is the result of a lot of hard work throughout the preseason a lot of hard work with touch uh ball handling pre season and and I guess during the week but then also just a mindset of really trusting ourselves and embracing that it's not going to work all the time but the damage and the aggressive attitude that we're bringing to that space is it's going to pay off more often than not it's going to create some really damaging looks for us so we understand we're going to do it and it's not going to pay off all the time especially those high pressure games but we felt like on the weekend was a good example of um when it starts to turn those looks that we got in the third quarter result of us continuing just to trust our game plan and Trust what we want to do and that's a big part of it be good to get on the MCG this weekend always good to get on the G um yeah we love it any opportunity we can get there is only a couple of years so we really embrace it and and look forward to getting out there and running out in the uh the hollow Turf so we can't wait 100 games for you this weekend have you had time to reflect on that Milestone not really not really my uh my partner is is coming over my fiance sorry is coming over and she's uh been planning like a dinner and stuff and whatnot and trying to get family to the game and everything I've been trying to plan it for like last week or so and I have not allowed myself to even go there without focusing on the game in front of us and the derby on the weekend and she's been getting quite frustrated that I I can't plan or I can't look forward or look ahead to it so now that we're there and um we're in the week and looking forward to it I'm looking forward just to seeing family seeing friends and um to be honest it's just another game but it's a nice little Milestone along the way on the weekend you for the 70th time in a row recorded 20 plus disposals in a game it probably goes back to what you were speaking about earlier with your consistency but have you got any r or Reason into the actual numbers behind your game and how you've been so consistent there no not really um I think yeah like I said i' I want to show up the same week in week out no matter the context no matter the opposition no matter the grounds I just want to be the same version of myself week in week out and feel like I'm I'm growing in that space and I'll continue to grow but feel like it's that's been something that holds me in really good stad and um yeah I I guess this year's there's a few different challenges that have been thrown up around getting tagged and a few bit more attention around stopping and whatnot and had to work through that and it's been really challenging at times but the support I've had from my teammates and the other midfielders it's a it's a great Midfield to be a part of and um I think we're all having great impact and we all Impact in different ways and we're all different players but um the support and yeah the support we have from those guys and having Sean hit it down your throat all the time is uh makes it a fair Fairly easier to play as a Midfield at the moment I guess very early on in your career and this is years ago but you were the one doing the tagging and sort of learning that craft had you feel feel like that's helped your game and the elite running patterns and everything that's gone into where you are now it definitely helped yeah no doubt i' I learned a lot from that playing on some of the best players in the competition I learned so much and um really appreciative for that opportunity and at the time it was really hard and and really tough and challenging and preparing for those guys as a 19yearold come up against marus bonell and those those kind of guys it was quite nerve-racking and and daunting but learned so much and and made so many mistakes but also learned from those mistakes and and grew as a player and as a person and I think you're right that does hold me in good stad but there's also things that I've leared this year that I I didn't know and I will continue to to grow and be a student in and I think that's a big mindset that we've got as a group but I try and take as an individual is no matter what you do on the weekend or no matter where you're at or how well you're playing or how bad you're playing just continue to be a student and continue to try and grow every day and get better and um that's something that I've really tried to focus on this year with those challenges cuz yeah it's been tough some weeks you walk out there and you're getting yeah someone run with you the whole time and you feel like you can't get near it or you can't have any impact on the game and um those challenges and I guess understanding how to manipulate that and and be a better player for the team and how I can impact the team not just as an individual by getting the ball but how I can help the teammates around me has been a big growth piece for me this year