For the first time in his fledgling AFL career, Touk Miller was sidelined with an injury in the early rounds of 2016.
After playing 22 games in his debut campaign, the feisty midfielder succumbed to a minor ankle sprain suffered in the season opener against Essendon, keeping him out of action for two weeks.
But rather than sit on the sidelines and feel sorry for himself, the Calder Cannons product was a human sponge, absorbing as much information as he possibly could in a bid to improve his own game.
Miller spent an afternoon in the coaches box at NEAFL level and described the experience in an interview with SUNS TV.
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“It was pretty interesting actually,” Miller said.
“It was a bit quiet, can’t really hear much atmosphere, but I definitely know you get a better view from in the coaches box. You can see a lot more up there than you can on the ground.
“Also just running patterns, how much it influences the team when you make certain runs so I think that was probably the point that stood out for me.”
The insights gained around unrewarded running and cleanness with the Sherrin will no doubt soon find their way into the 20-year-old’s game.
“I think selfless running is part of my game anyway but I think that’s something I’ll implement a bit more,” he said.
“I noticed that it shows a fair bit out on the ground but also how important it is to be clean in certain scenarios so hopefully I can bring that into my game as well.”
With his tireless work ethic and hunger to improve, it’s near impossible not to see Miller as a 10-15 year player in the AFL.
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The former Vic Metro captain is far from content with where he’s currently at, with an appetite to not only entrench himself into the midfield rotations at the SUNS but also to become one of the game’s elite onballers.
“I definitely want to push back into the midfield group,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s a massive issue or anything like that Ablett and Prestia are playing there but definitely going to try squeezing my way in there as the year progresses.
“At the moment (my focus is) just managing to stay fit and healthy on the field but besides that I probably want to take my game to a new level.
“Last year was good, really enjoyed it and I managed to get a bit of time forward and midfield but this time I want to put myself in that elite bracket and head towards that area.”
