Youth policy lifts Eagles
Troop becoming a top forward
NEWTOWN & Chilwell forward Darcy Troop has a combination of hard work, opportunity and chocolate to thank for a scoring explosion.
The forward, who played two senior games in 2016, but has solidified himself this year, has kicked 11 goals in the past two weeks after managing only three in the first six.
Troop kicked four goals in the winning reserves grand final last year and has impressed enough to play every senior game so far this season.
Thanks to off-season departures and a resultant youth focus at Newtown, Troop has been allowed to flourish up forward, even if his pre-season diet wasn’t perfect.
“I ate more chocolate,” Troop laughed.
“No, the list just got really young and it was an opportunity to play senior football.
“We had a bunch of older blokes and stars leave and now it’s time for the kids to stand up.”
Troop counted himself lucky being able to cash in on the unprecedented avalanche of goals last week for the Eagles.
The 22-year-old booted seven goals out of 41 as Newtown smashed Lara by 252 points.
Using an age-old forwards adage, Troop says he was just playing his role because somebody has to kick the goals.
“The boys in the middle got it up forward nice and easy and I just finished it off,” Troop said. “It’s good to slot a few goals and do my job up for- ward. If I’m not kicking goals I’m not doing my job.”
The Eagles have impressed this season with their collection of young talent and thanks to last week’s big percentage booster finds themselves in fifth position.
That young squad is hoping to look into the future when it faces St Mary’s today, a team that went down a similar path of youth and roared into the grand final last year.
Having defied early predictions of a truly down year, Troop said the Eagles were looking forward to testing themselves and possibly strengthening a case for finals.
“A lot of teams would have written us off and thought we were too young, but we are starting to gel and we have picked up a few wins,” he said.
“I think a lot of clubs are doing that now, playing a lot of younger kids and recruiting younger and it seems to be working. St Mary’s have made a good go of it and they will be a good test.
“It will show us where we are at.” JACK Walters has enjoyed the highs and suffered the lows of TAC Cup footy, but the Geelong Falcons midfielder has an enviable attitude about the roller-coaster ride — he’s just going to control what he can.
Two years ago Walters had never tasted representative football, but an opportunity to play seniors at Anglesea as a 17-year-old fast-tracked his development.
By the end of 2015 talent manager Mick Turner had identified the wingman as a potential Falcon, and by Round 1 last year Walters was in the side’s best 22.
But it wasn’t a seamless year. “I played the first three rounds then went down with a knee injury, and think I missed 15 weeks,” he said.
“That was hard and there were some pretty shallow weeks, but I just did all my rehab at the Falcons.
“Mick spoke to me halfway through the year and said, ‘We’ll get you back as a 19year-old, you’re not guaranteed to make the list, but definitely to try out as a 19year-old next year’.”
But, able to control only what he could control, Walters pushed through his rehab to make a remarkable return before the end of the season.
He played the last two regular season games and the Falcons’ first final before being dropped for the prelim.
“Again (that) was pretty hard, but I wasn’t in great form,” he said.
But with an invitation to return and try out for this season — as a 19-year-old — Walters put his best foot forward to regain his position on the list.
He made the cut as one of five 19-year-olds in the squad, but TAC Cup rules allow coach Daniel O’Keefe to play only three at a time.
Despite playing his best game against the Northern Knights on May 13, picking up 26 touches, five tackles and a goal, Walters was pushed out of the side and sent back to Anglesea.
“I was pretty happy after that game, actually. (It) was definitely my best game for the season,” he said.
“I started building into that. I’d played three games before that at the Falcons. My first two were pretty slow and then the third game I started to get a bit more of the ball.
“It was pretty tough being told, ‘You have to go back to Anglesea,’ especially when you think you’ve played well, but it was because of the 19-year-old rule, which we got told about at the start of the year.
“It was fair enough and that’s how it goes, but definitely it’s hard to swallow. But you move on.”
It’s that attitude that has helped Walters return to the Falcons side while a couple of those fellow under-19s juggle Vic Country duties.
“It’s definitely not ideal but I suppose that’s the rules,” Walters said.
“I can’t really change it, I’ve just got to accept it and try and move on and focus on playing my best footy whatever level I’m at.
“If I have to go back to Anglesea, I just try and put my best foot forward down there and try and stay positive about it all. As long as I just keep trying to play my best footy, that’s all I can do, really.”