GRYAN Miers hopes the time spent on a wing and as a high half-forward during pre-season will help push his case for an AFL debut in 2019.
The second-year Geelong small forward says working with a sprint coach before Christmas was beneficial, helping him cover more ground than he did during his rookie year.
“It’s using my running to transition back and getting into the game by getting into the backline instead of just getting the ball when we’re attacking,” Miers said.
“That’s getting me into the game a lot more.
“I’m taking the game a little bit more and taking the gaps; we’ve discussed it as a team taking the gaps more, and that’s really helped my game when attacking.
“Also, I’m doing extra sessions with Cheese (VFL coach Shane O’Bree), focusing on kicking and tackling on our less intense (training) days just to get the right techniques going.”
The former Geelong Falcon did enough after being drafted by the Cats at the end of 2017 to appear in both JLT Series matches.
However, that didn’t translate into an AFL debut for Miers, who admits his confidence took a hit after not performing how he would have liked.
“When I got called up for JLT, I thought I was going to perform really well, and I didn’t at all; I felt I went back to zero and had to restart,” he said.
“About Round 3, I was like “start from scratch, try and scratch the last few weeks”.
“I went through a lot of structural stuff with ‘Cheese’ and tried to get confidence back in the way I played, which came and went all season long.
“I just want to go into this year playing with confidence every week.”
Despite being out of contract at the end of this year, Miers is willing to bide his time to get his AFL chance.
“I’m not really focused on that. Last year, I played JLT, and there were guys playing pre-season games in the VFL who played (AFL) Round 1, and I didn’t.
“It would be awesome to play that, but I’m not hung up on that.
“I can play VFL first few rounds, but if I get my opportunity Round 4, Round 10, I want to take it.
“That’s what I’m really focusing on.”
Twitter: @tom_king79
