All Conca-ingBy Luke Holmesby
Mon 23 May, 2011
THE expression 'good news travels fast' seems to be particularly apt for Reece Conca's AFL career.
While he has been on Richmond's list for just six months, Conca's two career highlights so far have become public knowledge much sooner than he might have thought.
Firstly on draft day last year the Richmond web site already featured Conca's player profile in the hours leading up to the draft.
It wasn't until later that night that he officially became a Tiger when his name was read out with the sixth overall pick.
Then, nine weeks into this season, Conca earned a nomination as the NAB AFL Rising Star for his stellar performance against Essendon.
It is standard procedure for the week's nomination to find out on the Monday and do the press rounds later that day for an embargoed story to emerge first thing on Tuesday morning.
But no one explained the protocol to Conca's teammate Jack Riewoldt who jubilantly announced the news to the world via Twitter on Monday afternoon.
Conca had already found out he was the week's nominee but had no idea the word had got out as he was locked away in a meeting for much of the afternoon.
It was a similar scenario to what he had experienced on draft day.
"I didn't find out about that until after the actual draft. But yeah, I did hear about it," Conca told afl.com.au.
"It wouldn't have made a difference because (Richmond recruiter) Francis Jackson had flown over (to Conca's home town Perth) a couple of nights before the draft and broke the news to me. I had a pretty good idea I was already going to Richmond before the actual draft."
Conca said he had been keeping close tabs on his fellow first-round draft picks but said he felt no pressure to keep up with them.
"I tend to have a look at how the other guys are rolling. More so the WA guys, and some of my better mates like Dave Swallow, Brandon Matera and Jack Darling. I keep an eye on Dyson Heppell, Jared Polec and Andrew Gaff as well," he said.
Conca said he had been particularly following former Perth teammates Michael Evans and Jarrad Irons as they forge their way into the Melbourne and Port Adelaide teams respectively.
But he would not trade their prospects for his own and he's firmly in the growing camp of people who believe Richmond is on its way to something special.
"It has been really good. It's a young, exciting group. I've fit in quite well, there are a lot of players in their first three years at the club which makes it a bit easier to get along with the guys," he said.
"It certainly helps to play good footy when you're with a bunch of guys you get along with."
Conca has done little wrong as he alternates between Richmond's back half and more recently the midfield.
But he is not allowing himself to be satisfied with what he has achieved despite the fact that both he and his team are playing above the expectations they might have had at the beginning of the season.
"Personally I just want to keep the consistent football I've got at the moment and keep developing. I've got to fix a few weaknesses like my kicking for goal," he said.
"As a team we are still developing and sticking to our structures. Hopefully we can finish the year strongly."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/114579/default.aspx
