By Shaun Curnow
After the disappointment of not being drafted in 2010, the former Murray Bushrangers captain, Brendan Allen, decided to take a year out from the game. In his year off, he played a handful of games for his local club Euroa and only trained occasionally. He continued to work on his career outside of football and was successful in obtaining his real estate licence.
Allen recently signed with Sandringham for 2012 and says now it is time to work hard and start playing good footy again.
Having followed the Zebras success throughout his younger years, he was excited to join the club that he had watched and admired and it became a main factor in his signing.
“I watched a lot of VFL footy when I was younger and with Nick Sautner up forward kicking a bag each week, Sandringham always seemed to win!” explains Allen.
“I was also very impressed with the culture of the club. Coming from the country, the place really does have a country footy club feel about it and a lot of pride is shown in wearing the jumper.”
Whilst the new lease of life that the St Kilda and Sandringham alignment has received is well documented, Brendan didn’t see that as a major factor in his decision to join the Zebras. However he can see the benefits that it brings to the club.
“It’s very apparent that the alignment is stronger than ever with both Macca {Simon McPhee} and Scott Watters publicly endorsing the alignment.” Allen said.
“Also, a number of guys were given the opportunity to have a run around in St Kilda’s Intra Club matches over the preseason, which is terrific for our own personal development.”
Having now settled into life at the Zebras, Brendan is keen to work harder than ever to play the best football of his career. When speaking to Brendan, it is apparent that hard work is a key attribute to him fulfilling his goals.
“I'd say I'm pretty hard-working and disciplined player, who is very team orientated. I don't really try and model my game on anyone in particular as I just try and work as hard as I possibly can on my whole game and the team structure each week” explains Allen.
“I think my strengths would be my work rate, endurance and decision making. My weakness would be my speed which is something I am working hard on improving.”
“My main goal in 2012 is too obviously play as much senior football as possible and see how far we can get as a team, with the view of playing finals and chasing a flag. In future seasons, my goal would be to just work as hard as I possibly can and play the best footy I can.”
Having played in the Seniors in the first practice match Allen missed the 2nd with soreness, Brendan hopes to have a final warm up against Port Melbourne this Saturday. He continues to impress and will be pushing for Senior selection come round 1.
Last Modified on 15/03/2012 10:47
