On the Couch - Jake Waterman

I in Harley just burning up that curv anding it long into the pocket water water like a pinball just bounced off the ball and Slots a clever goal you can thump it Waterman attacks and a big plck Waterman maybe wman clars a big Mark and continues his impressive impressive indeed welcome back it is one of the great stories of the 2024 season Jake Waterman's transformation into a common medal chance if you don't mind and he's a West Coast Eagles player we don't see many of them he stayed over for us to have a chat and join us on the couch Jake you're welcome thanks for having you boys great to have you as I said it's hard to find a West Coast Eagles player is it because the legend is in the chair is that the reason you said I better stay I didn't know he was going to be on actually us Brownie and then got the news that he was going to be in but brownie Chief can't pick between them no hey we appreciate you staying on um yesterday was great your form this year has been Sensational 36 goals overcoming you know the injuries from last year the question mark about whether or not you'd be playing again I mean what do you put it down to um I was able to get back um after the sickness last year and have a pretty good preseason so I think it's all stemmed from that um bit more clarity on the role probably playing a bit closer to goal obviously with with big Oscar um getting injured early in the season I've probably played more of a more of of a deeper role in the forward line and um more relying upon with targets and as things go if you get more more targets and shots on um you know you you'll plck a couple in the end and um lucky lucky enough I've been able to convert a few tell us a bit more about the illness ulcerative colitis hope I got that correct but it's severe people don't understand how bad it is not just about whether you're coming back to football but whether you'd regain full health what sort of challenges did you go through mentally as well as physically yeah it wasn't it wasn't a pleasant time for myself and my family it sort of come out of nowhere and um flew home from a a gam and adlay that I was a laid out of and then end up spending the next sort of 10 11 days in the hospital find out that I had a inflammatory barow disease called ulcer of colitis that I've never even heard of before and um yeah it was yeah tough tough sort of period in my life and um I'm so lucky that I've had the support around me the the medical staff and the specialist to come in and put me on the right track to be able to be home now so the symptoms you were suffering apparently you were bowled up vomiting severe cramping pain yeah yeah and the rest of it it was you know the plumbing wasn't too good out of both ends but um yeah lost a bit of weight throughout that period and um yeah quite nauseous and um yeah something I'd never experienced before and um yeah quite quite an uncertain time for myself and once I'd found out what I had it was sort of you know how can I get back to living a normal happy life and then once I was sort of there start to get itchy again and the next thing was how can I get back running around and kicking a footy well you're a little bit old for it but you you should watch a $6 million man because you can you can be rebuilt you lost 12 kg and then you've come back seemingly I mean you've always been a great Runner but seemingly stronger and fitter than you've ever been what what do you what do you put your weight or your height out at the moment uh about 192 I think but I yeah like I said the the um the preseason just just put me on a good path to to come back and start playing good footy and um yeah I mean it know I am surprised at the amount of goals I've been out to kick but um you know I've I've always played different roles here and there in the forward line and like I said being able to play a bit closer to goal just results in more opportunities to be able to hit the scoreboard I think there might be a bit of May on that 192 just so you can say you can be a key for it I don't you wouldn't you wouldn't play on many guys that are that are smaller than you you you'd look across at your direct opponent and see that they've got you know an inch or two on you how does that make you feel like how do you make the most of that opportunity when you hit the hit the field yeah play on so many stars of the game and lined up on Benny MC um yesterday and he's two 200 cenes I think so he's got me comfortably so I think it it opens up opportunities elsewhere I think um you know they've probably got me in the air but um I back myself in in my work rate and where I'm able to run throughout a game and um it's a long game and if I can get up and gone for the whole game I think it's a bit of a war of attrition I think my my fitness sort of takes over in the latest stage of the game but um yeah so many um so many great Defenders out there and and you learn little things here and there from each one of them we're looking at numbers there improvements going through the roof you spoke about playing a little bit closer to home is it just that simple is it in Oscar Allen's absence you've become the go-to man is that what it is the opportunity or is there a little bit more to it um yeah maybe a little bit of that but um you know you you have games here and there and I probably have one to get to Richmond where you know you end up just you know clunking everything that comes away and just instills so much confidence in you to be able to you know keep going out there and backing yourself in and um to the boys credit that you know they back me in every week and and they kick the ball to me and um you know if you got a ticket more tickets in the raffle more chance you got pluck and one down so um yeah I mean I'm not quite sure but yeah I'm going to keep going with the FL we're loving it we're loving it yeah you're a bit of a footy head I'm told so what's life been like I mean it has been a really tough couple years for your mob and even you know sitting back here on the other side of the country you know we have empathy and we can look at it all but there were times here where it was a completely uncompetitive footy Club how's that been yeah it's uh the last couple years have been uh pretty slim and um yeah we've been put through the ringer a little bit with sort of unavailability of some of our best players and at times there's been some younger guys thrown out to the wol sort of to play um against Stars the offl and at times we haven't had the cattle to play or compete and at times we just haven't been good enough so um you know I think the the difference to this year is we're getting our best players out there fit and healthy and at their best um that will put us in more games and be able to compete did you have to take on a role though yourself and others to to front up each week now you're going to get your backside kicked I mean that be you find out a fair bit about yourself it may hold you in great stad going forward for the group but I mean at the time how hard did you have to drive it yeah I mean it's it's hard to to find the hope and the optimism when you're when you're losing every week so me as a more experienced player now you've you know you've got to you got to drive that with the younger boys and um make sure the Energy's up and although that we we we've gone through some tough times and some tough losses the resilience that's growing within the group and especially the younger players will will definitely Hold Us in good stead come down the track and I think we're starting to see the the light at the end of the tunnel now what about the coach because he was under you know real pressure through the middle and towards the end of last last year and there were questions on whether he should stay the course um through this dip I suppose what did you see in him and did you as as a leadership group were you reaching out to support him as much as he was supporting you guys yeah yeah I guess but Simo has always been so consistent in his messaging um and you know at times last year you feel so sorry for him because he's got this way that he wants us to play but you know probably with the cattle we've had out there we haven't been out to put it into to practice so um at times it's so difficult for him and um he's come back this year so energized um with the team and where we're going and um I think he's going up another level um on his coaching commitment and um yeah the energy he's brought to the group this year and the confidence he's instilled within the younger players um yeah as has showed on on Game Day Jake I think we're all fascinated by Harley Reed we see glimpses of how good he is he's a young kid that's com in with such impudence the way plays the game you're with him day in day out seeing how hard he works what is HE capable of yeah um it's hard to put a lid on him at the moment he's just so good I think he's played 10 games so far and he's had about sort of four Mark of the Year nominees and goals like this I mean I put on about 7 leads for him just gave up but I mean yeah he sort of he sort of changed the club in a ways he's provided hope within the players and and the fans and every time he gets the ball out there you just you feel the fans just get a bit of energy and um yeah I mean he's he's as good of a player he is he's a better person he's just such a such a young humble kid who's willing to learn as well and um yeah his confidence is yeah that's a big comment you've made I think we all sense it that he''s changed the club so he's come in and as you say given hope to the supporter base attracting players memberships corporate sponsorship all that sort of stuff that's a big burden to carry for one so young but I'm really interested to hear say he's he's a better Boke than he is a player so unaffected not affected wears it pretty comfortably got a little arrogant smirk um no I it's it seems unaffected I mean obviously he probably internally probably feels it a little bit but um the way he handles it um when he's at the club um yeah I got to take my hat off to him because um the way he holds himself under you know picking up the news paper every day and seeing his nogging on the back page I mean I don't know I don't know how that how that would feel but um yeah he he's bearing it quite well he's playing this Sunday back against Hawks the Hawks which will be great in preparation it's important to have you know rabbits you know that the strong man you've got endurance guys speed guys that actually drive the standards I get the sense that that you're one of those where do you where does Harley stack up in in training standards and where who did he lean to to learn how to prepare at an AFL level um I'm not sure where I where I stack up I hopefully I set a good example for the rest of the playing group um in terms of Harley he trains hard and I've I've seen him quite close to yoi and since Yo's been back we've seen his sort of return to his near best and he's changed our team as well and the way he's taken guys like Harley and Elijah hu and rben jimy under his wing um he's helping them grow and um with him signing on during the during the week for another few years um he's going to have such a impact on their development Oscar Allen came back and played his his first game for the for the year uh second yes say second so he missed he's missed a lot of football through you know the you I suppose the last couple of years how do you feel you two are going to come together over the next five or six weeks it's it must be exciting for you to have uh another wingman there to be able to you know go to town and challenge opposition defenses yeah I reckon he'd probably say that I'm his wing man but um um yeah I mean Oscar's one of my best mates and um obviously being named captain of the club this year is a massive honor and he's very deserved of it and I know playing round one and then missing out with injury probably wait on him a little bit as you know a new captain wants to come in and um have a good impact straight away but um having out having him out there on the ground we we walk so much taller with him and um I think we work quite well together and um he was probably a little bit Rusty yesterday probably could have kicked the bag if he wanted to but um yeah I can't wait to see what he can do for the rest of the year captains have to be incredibly team oriented they understand sacrifice he needs to understand you're the number one guy at the moment but you're third on the Coleman list and fly is it is it in the Realms of possib would you aim for something like that no I don't think so I I've never really Chase individual sort of awards and um you know as much as it's it's a little bit weird seeing your name up within you know keros and Hogans and whatnot it's just I'm just taking it within my stride and um however go however many goals I kick on game day I've got a few things that that are intangible for me that I need to do and however many goals it is can you share those it's just my contest my work rate um you know if you walk off the ground now you've done those two hopefully that transfers into goal for the team but if it doesn't hopefully I can still walk off knowing that that I did those two things well what about the old man 177 games for the Eagles couple of premierships yourself your brother Alec have played League footy now he'd be uh he'd be pretty proud of what's unfolding at the moment I hope this is the vision where I M Mark they I ask for it no no doesn't appear to be no he's going well um he's get off the ground oh um no he's coaching um uh Wembley amatees Club with all my mates down there and um he's getting back into footy on at that sort of level so um no he's always been great for me um he's never pushed me to do anything cu's he's always sort of stood off and let me come to him with advice and um yeah he's always willing to to help me improve eagal royalty there two premierships so you're part of a two team town I I don't think unless you live it you can ever really understand it but what is it like to walk around per especially in the last couple of years when you've had those struggles do you do you hide yourself away is it is it a difficult place to be no I don't think no not not at all I think um probably at times um especially when things are going well it all sort of heartens in terms of sort of the media publicity in that but um no I don't think I think once you start doing that then you s sort of lose sight of who you are as a person um but yeah it's it's special being in wa at the moment obviously Freo doing so well um you know but we obviously got got the wood over him in the derby earlier so um that was that was a special night for all West Coast Fans at a at a home game like that but um it's uh it's it's nice seeing FR do so well and I think we've got him about four or five weeks so um yeah it's going to be a great match hopefully it's a good mullet who gave you the nickname G train I don't know everyone seems to give me a nickname or two but I'm just running with it at the moment you get plugger as well absolutely Chief you keep kicking like this hey um I mean it it's been it's well understand be really difficult to get an eagles player to stay over so we really appreciate you played yesterday team went back last night and you've stayed for us so we love having you in the chair mate and I'm sure the supporters love seeing you so keep up the great work and um Good Luck thanks y thanks for having me good to have Jake Waterman with