Jaeger O'Meara
 

Travelling with the boys to Melbourne last week taught me a lot about life as an AFL footballer and also made me twice as determined to learn everything I can this season so I'm ready to press my case for selection in round 1 next year.

It was great experience for a young footballer, not to mention a great performance by the team against the Kangaroos, and I got a lot out of the trip.

In addition to the procedural aspects of travelling that I learnt, the opportunity to spend time with the senior players was golden.

Being on flights with them, in the hotel, at meals and in team meetings and then in the rooms etc, it all really helped me to develop my relationships with them.

I love being in the football environment and I'm desperate to play round one next year, so I really want to work hard on those relationships.

My view of footy is that it is important to have strong relationships off the ground as well. That seems to be a strength of the teams that do really well. You look at Geelong, they all get along really well and it seems to be important to them.

I think that sort of culture is important to the SUNS to.

The travel protocols were a real eye opener and something I'll need to learn more about.

Being able to win on the road will be crucial to our success in the future and getting our travel practices right is very important.

Things such as hydration, what you eat, your sleeping patterns and recovery disciplines take on extra significance when you are playing interstate.

Another highlight was going to watch the Eagles play the Tigers with the coach.

The most important thing I took away was that West Coast’s defensive game was a lot better than Richmond's. That is really important in the AFL at the moment where the better sides are the ones that are stronger defensively.

Bluey asked me to follow one player and I chose Trent Cotchin. The thing that struck me was his change of pace. He really used his explosiveness to his advantage, you could see that he had perfect timing of when to go and go hard.

It was a great lesson for me because he is a player I have always loved to watch and I hope to be able to develop into a similar type player in the coming years