The 201cm ruckman has had to bide his time for a senior recall after tasting AFL football against Adelaide in Round 11 of the club’s inaugural 2011 Premiership Season, working tirelessly in the weights room and on the tracking track to add more weight to his frame and develop his skills around the stoppages.
But after Charlie Dixon failed to overcome a recurring ankle injury, Nicholls was immediately given another crack at the big time – and he hasn’t looked back since.
“Obviously pleased to be playing in the seniors, and while it has unfortunately come through an injuriy to Zac Smith, I’m glad I’ve been given an opportunity and am definitely doing my best to make the most of it,” said Nicholls.
Nicholls superb work around the clearances against Geelong and Essendon saw the Gold Coasters outclass the premiership contenders in the hit-out battle, and showed his versatility by floating around the goals to provide a tall lead-up target for his team mates.
The 21-year-old Victorian is determined not to drop away from his strong performances when he returns from his well-deserved break in Melbourne, telling goldcoastfc.com.au consistency will be his main focus heading into the second-half of the season.
“It’s always about just making sure you perform each week out on the field, backing it up and not getting too complacent with where you might be at,” he said.
And Nicholls said the same would be said around the change rooms in the lead-up to the team’s Round 14 clash against Adelaide at Metricon Stadium next week.
“We definitely want to keep making sure we’re performing to the best of our abilities on the field,” Nicholls said.
“We want to keep improving so we can get the best out of each other, so we’ll be entering the second-half of the season by putting a real focus on continued improvement.”
