Expectation takes a toll

Brendan Rose (left) is determined to get back to his best next season/ 173653 Pictures: ROB CAREW

Casey-South Melbourne fast bowler Brendan Rose contemplated giving up cricket after a horror season for his club that began with such high expectations, as NICK CREELY discovers.

Brendan Rose is a lion hearted cricketer, a fast bowler who hits the deck hard and does anything to win.
In the 2016/17 Victorian Premier Cricket season he did just that, capturing the Casey-South Melbourne club champion award after taking 39 wickets (third in the state), helping guide the Swans to an incredible finals berth after years down the bottom.
That expectation of improving on that feat took it’s toll, and as the Swans endured beating after beating from their opposition in the first eight rounds of the season, Rose lost all his confidence, and weighed up whether to commit the long hours to being a Premier cricketer.
“I was actually dropped to the twos for one game, I just wasn’t bowling well, and the one day stuff really isn’t my strength, especially the Twenty20 stuff – my pace wasn’t there, I just didn’t hit the wicket, and I was trying to swing the ball too much,” he explained.
“I was pumped (for the season) and ready to go, the issue I had was trying to swing the ball – It was upsetting, I was really angry (at being dropped), but more upset with myself.
“It wasn’t a nice thing (being dropped) – I started thinking, ‘do I really want to keep playing cricket anymore?’, I hold myself in high standards, and then you start to question whether last year was just a fluke.
“And I definitely questioned my ability as a cricketer, there was a lot of thoughts going through my head.”
He confided in his coach, and eventually stuck fat.
“I spoke to Prabath (Nissanka) a little bit about how I was feeling, there was a few friends that are close to me that I spoke to about it too, but there not so involved with cricket,” he said.
“I’m not really sure exactly how I was feeling at the time, it was not just one thing, it was a lot of things.”
But proud athletes, ones who always look to better themselves, always bounce back, and despite Rose not re-capturing that magic 2016/17 form, he worked his way into the season to pick up 11 wickets in his final five matches, as well as cracking his maiden half-century at first XI level.
“Being dropped probably helped me, it allowed me to come back up and hit the deck hard and bowl fast, and get my rhythm back,” he said.
“After Christmas, I was actually more motivated and I started putting some good cricket together, but I wasn’t where I was last year.”
Lessons have been learnt in dealing with expectation, not just on an individual sense, but as a club, who have plenty of young talent still learning their craft in the gruelling Premier competition.
“We were well ahead last year, and that probably surprised us – we were thinking that if we could sit just outside the eight that season, that would be brilliant,” he said.
“I think a lot of guys thought it would just happen again, and therefore we didn’t need to work as hard because we had the talent – that was definitely the case in pre-season, and we weren’t working as hard.
“To try and meet the expectations of last year was extremely challenging – I’ve learnt a lot more this season than I have with every other season, I had big success last year, and this year I know what I was doing wrong, and that’ll help me for next season.
“It’s been a big wakeup call, not only for me, but the group, knowing we’re not where we think we are, and to work harder.”
While Rose remains confident his club will bounce back and that he will re-discover the form that had him being talked about for the Victorian Futures in the latter stages of last year, he concedes they need some help, both on field and off.
“This is where the competition could probably be a bit better – Cricket Victoria need to start controlling where state players play, and they could distribute those state players, especially the ones that are interstate, and send them out to Casey – controlling that would help us and clubs like Greenvale, who are in the sticks, otherwise we’ll continue to be a losing club,” he said.
“We can’t question someone like a Peter Dickson making 700 runs a year, or a Lloyd Mash or Brett Forsyth, we need someone like that in our club, and that’s where Cricket Victoria need to start regulating that a bit better.
“If they did that, the competition would be so much more even – if a state player coming from WA moved to Victoria, they should be sent to a club like ours to help grow the club and help them out.
“The reality is, that’s not what happens.”
As one of the only Premier clubs in the south-east, and the only that represents the Gippsland region, Rose said the club relies heavily on the support of the community.
“The support we had last year compared to this year was noticeable – the reality is, nobody wants to support a losing club and that’s fair enough – we were high and mighty last year and everyone wanted to jump on, and this year we hardly won a game, and we had a lack of support,” he said.
But the next big call the club’s board needs to make is electing a new coach, with Nissanka’s one year stint coming to an end.
“It’s a massive decision, we never seem to have a long standing coach – BK (Brian Keogh) was massive for us, and fitted the group perfectly, unfortunately because of his work he can’t commit – whoever they choose, needs to be long term,” he said.
“The club doesn’t have a huge amount of money to pay a coach and a star player, and if we could combine that it would be a smart move, but you have to find someone who can commit, it’s a big role.
“Realistically, a player/coach would be awesome, and another batter and bowler – we need long term, we have a young group, but we need experience.”
While Rose sits back and enjoys the off-season before gearing up for a 2018/19 redemption, he still remains proud of what he’s achieved in his 93 wicket, 69 game first XI Premier career, despite doing it the hard way.
He now remains confident that in the future, the hard work and lessons from a horror season will hold him in good stead.
“I’ve learnt bits and pieces from all my season’s, and the unfortunate thing for me, is that I’ve had to figure a lot out all on my own,” he said.
“Knowing what I know now, if I could go back to the start of my Premier career at 17, I’d be a completely different player, but what I’ve learnt now and what I tell the young bowlers coming through, they are so lucky to have coaches like Prabath teaching them, because I never had that.
“If you want to play state cricket, you have to be doing what they’re doing, and if they’re doing five sessions and we’re doing two, it just doesn’t add up, and that’s why it’s probably taken me so long to get to where I am now.
“This year I did a lot of work on my fitness, and I’m the fittest I’ve ever been, and that unfortunately didn’t relay into my cricket, but now I know the structure of my program to get myself back to my best.”