FORMER West Coast Eagle and gun-Berwick recruit Ash Smith played a blinder against Narre Warren on Saturday, showing the poise and control off half-back that has been the signature of quality football teams over the years. He spoke with the Gazette’s Dave Nagel from out in front of a buzzing Berwick change room after the match.
THE team has been competitive so far this season but it must feel great to finally get across the line?
It is, you know we’ve played some good footy but it’s just been in spurts, so it was good to put a four-quarter effort together today against a quality side. Everyone contributed and no-one really stood out, so it was good to get that even contribution across the board.
What was the message at half time because they came at you in the second quarter… and you did fade against Cranbourne?
Just to believe in our ability, that we had the run in the legs and that we were going to play good footy in the second half. We kept going for the kicks we had to go for, took the game on, and that opened things up for us in the end. We used the corridor well, linking up with handball and hitting targets, when we play that way we’re competitive.
How hard has it been for you to come back from the AFL and adjust to this level? People just expect you to bore in now and get the hard ball, but you weren’t asked to play that way at West Coast. You were released today and it really paid off?
It’s a different style of footy; I can’t probably get away with standing on the outside as much, which is the way I like to play my footy. Here, if you want to play midfield you have to go in and get your own ball. I played against Beacy in the midfield, but if I’m going to keep playing midfield I have to learn to go in and get my own ball. I find playing half back is a better position for me; I can read the play a bit better and run off and use my assets.
It hasn’t been a defensive position for a long time has it, half back?
It’s quite an attacking position really. Narre has some good half backs, like (Jackson) Parker and (Ben) Giobbi and we spoke about stopping their run before the game and we nullified that a little bit which was good. I thought we combined pretty well off half back today.
How are you enjoying the step back to local footy?
Yeah, it’s been really good. Towards the end of my AFL career I wasn’t enjoying my footy as much and it became a bit of a grind. You turn up every day and train, and you’re not playing seniors, it becomes a bit frustrating at times, so it’s good to come back, still with high expectations, but just with less stress. It’s good to spend some time with family and friends and just take the pressure off a little.
You seemed to have settled in well, the boys were getting stuck into you with a nickname after the game?
It’s a name that rolled on from West Coast. I’ve played a bit of footy with blokes like Madi Andrews and Michael Johnson so it’s been pretty easy to settle in. All the boys have been terrific since I got here.
Ash, you, Michael Riseley, Ben Kearns and Michael Johnson, you’re obviously all good footballers but has it taken time to get used to each other?
Those boys probably weren’t at their best in the first couple of games, and neither was I, and it’s just taken us time to gel, to know how we play, get used to the game style, those types of things, but we’re heading in the right direction now.
