FORMER Geelong rookie Padraig Lucey remains committed to his AFL dream and is hopeful of being given another chance at the game’s highest level.
The Irishman spent two years at Simonds Stadium before being delisted at the end of 2016 without playing a senior game.
“It’s always there. I’ve always wanted to play AFL, that’s why I’m here, and that’s the goal, he said.
“I’m really enjoying my footy at GFL and still working on my game, so hopefully I can just keep on improving and someone can pick me up eventually.”
With the step down in standard from VFL, Lucey admits he has taken some time to adjust to the tempo of the GFL.
“I want a bit more out of myself, but I’m finding it a bit hard to follow the play,” he said.
“I’ve learned the game from VFL football, and it moves so fast. It just seems to break down a lot more and is a lot slower (in the GFL), but it’s something I’ve adapted to.
“The first 3-4 games weren’t all that good, but over the last four I reckon I’ve got some good form.
Right now, Lucey, who turns 25 on July 2, is focused on helping Newtown & Chilwell to an unlikely GFL finals berth.
The Eagles have been one of the surprise packets of the 2017 season, sitting just two points outside the top five after a draw with 2016 runner-up St Mary’s on the weekend.
“We brought a lot of stuff – maybe not for all the game, but for a majority of the game – that we’d been working on; pressure, tackles, stuff like that.
“We seemed to move the ball a bit better.
“We’re a very young side and I think our young guys are standing up big time, and it’s very impressive for some of our older guys who are demanding it from our younger guys.
“We’ve just got to keep on improving and playing the way we’re playing, and keep striving to be the best team we can be.”
The Eagles travel to the other end of Minerva Road this afternoon for a return meeting with Bell Park.
When the teams last met in Round 3, the Dragons came away with a 24-point win.
“Our pressure wasn’t desperate around the ball,” Lucey said. “And as forwards helping out our midfielders, we didn’t do a very good job.
“We’ve improved in that aspect in the last 2-3 weeks.
“That’s going to be a big part of this week because they’ve got some good forwards and they just got the ball in too easy the last time we played.
“We’ve just got to bring that pressure and, hopefully, we can improve on when we played them last time.
Last Modified on 21/07/2017 19:58