CVF chats to Sandhurst Dragons midfielder Nathan Meade.
It’s no secret the BFL Dragons are up and about, and much of the Dragons chances to return to the finals fold hinges of the development of their younger brigade. Central Vic Footy spoke to one of them in endurable midfielder Nathan Meade this week…….
Welcome to Central Vic Footy Nathan it’s great to have you along for a chat. The word on the street is that Dragonland is an exciting place to be at the moment with strong expectations of a return to the finals fold. How has the Pre-Season been & has it been much different to that of last year?
Thanks for having me Chalky. Yeah it is an exciting place to be at the moment, everyone seems to be up and about and can’t wait to get into the real deal. This pre season has been another solid block with Brock Prime and Mark Crothers putting heaps of work into the strength and conditioning side and Nihilly taking care of the skills base. We have pretty much done a similar build up to last season but undertaken more skill sessions.
The team was very competitive last year finishing in 6th position although victories against the Top 5 teams were confined to wins over Kangaroo Flat & Eaglehawk in the last home and away round. On what basis do you think the Club can rise back into Premiership contention?
Well I think we do have some of the elite players in the BFL at the moment but we may have not stuck with a couple of the top teams last year. I think we have improved our depth in the side this year and hopefully that can go some way into closing the gap a little.
At the start of the 2007 Season with the Bendigo Bombers Reserves you were a skinny boy who was generally out muscled, but bit by bit you have continued to develop as a footballer in many ways. How hard have you worked in the gym to build body strength and size?
Yeah I didn’t have much meat on me back then but over the past few years I’ve just tried to get into the gym a few times a week and throw some iron around and also working on core strength.
You produced a consistent 2009 Season for the Dragons throughout the midfield, in what areas do you believe you need improve to advance into the top bracket of midfielders in the competition?
This year I’m just hoping to firstly playing my role that I’m asked to do, increase my pace and also to just stay in games for the whole 4 quarters as previously I tended to float in and out during throughout the game.
Who are a couple of your team mates that have had boom Pre-Seasons that Central Vic Footy readers should watch for when the real stuff starts in less than a months time?
There are a lot of players going really well at the moment. Jon and Lee Coghlan, Matt Stagg and Jarrod Bateson have been flying, Simon Weekley has fitted back in well, Matty Thornton looks like he’s going to have a big year and the young boys Nick Stagg and Liam McCarthy have been zipping around.
I believe your studying at University in Melbourne. What course are you undertaking & how did you take the O week festivities in?
Yeah I’m down here at RMIT studying exercise and sports science. I did one night during the O week festivities on the pub crawl which is always a decent night out and some good fun.
Whats the Practice Match schedule for the SFC leading into the Season?
Well on the 13th of March we play Corowa Rutherglen over there, the 20th we play North City and the 27th we either play an intraclub or another team which should be a good lead up to the season the week after.
Just back to your stint with the Bendigo Bombers, how do you reflect on that time and what were highlights from a personal point of view?
The time I spent there was great. I learnt a lot about football, able to build my body up a bit, met a heap of great blokes and taught me a lot of good habits. I would recommend it to anyone coming out of under 18’s who wants to develop more as a player or someone who wants to go further.
Just before we let you go the Club has launched it’s Membership Campaign Pride, Passion, Success…… It’s must be great to be involved with a Club that’s administration body is working away so well in the background?
Yeah the people behind the scenes at Sandhurst have really put the club in a good position for the future. I don’t want to name names because I’ll forget some but as a player it’s good to feel comfortable that you have the right people on board and that you’re going to enjoy being around the place for not just this year but for years to come.
Thanks again for spending some time with Central Vic Footy Meadey, I’m sure 2010 is set to be a big one for you and all involved at Dragonland.
Thanks for having me Chalky, all the best for this year as well.
