Nervous trio excited they have earned their stripes Emma Quayle
March 24, 2011
Jake Batchelor, Reece Conca and Brad Helbig make their AFL season debuts against Carlton tonight. Photo: Pat ScalaTHIS time last year, Reece Conca's average Thursday read something like this: get up, go to university where he had begun studying psychology and commerce, later off to train with his WAFL side, then home for his mother's cooking. The thought of training and playing with an AFL team was still a long and stressful wait away.
The past few months have felt a little quicker. In November, Conca was drafted with the No. 6 pick. In January, he trained fully for the first time, a more patient player after overcoming an ankle problem and graduating from rehab.
Last month, he wore his No. 30 Richmond guernsey for the first time, playing in the club's first pre-season game, and on Tuesday he was sitting in a team meeting - feeling a little nervous, a little hopeful and yet confident - when told that he and fellow draftees Jake Batchelor and Brad Helbig would make their AFL season debuts against Carlton.
Advertisement: Story continues below It felt good. ''It's that old cliche; I was trying not to think about it too much, but it's always in the back of your mind. It was good to get it over and done with, and just find out,'' said the 18-year-old, who had suspected in the past week or so that he was a good chance to get picked.
''There had been a bit of talk about it, but it was still a good feeling to know. I had a bit of everything - excitement, relief and butterflies in the stomach. Now I'm just excited and looking forward to it. It's a weird thing, because I look back now and time has gone pretty quickly. You think about all the training and everything we've done to reach this point and it has been pretty long and slow and gruelling.''
While Conca arrived ready to go - he will add, said coach Damien Hardwick yesterday, speed, agility and beautiful foot skills to the young Tigers side - Helbig, a tough, strong ball-winner from Mark Ricciuto's hometown of Waikerie in the South Australian riverland, has strengthened his case in the past few weeks, while Batchelor, a defender from the Dandenong Stingrays, has looked increasingly comfortable since his first day of pre-season training.
They will play alongside two other new Tigers, although Shaun Grigg and Bachar Houli, traded from Carlton and Essendon last October, already know what senior football feels like. Already Houli has made an impact on Richmond's off-field fortunes - he's sold 64 club membership packages to family and friends.
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