View Full Version : A Mean Street...
Dogs Rule
11 Feb 2006, 00:33
Link to a good article from today's Age on Streeter.
Enjoy.
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/02/10/1139542400943.html
Aquamarinejewel
11 Feb 2006, 00:40
Great story...love this bit,
"I know I used to get pushed out of the way a lot. I didn't know what it takes to play footy back then," he said. "You've got to be prepared to get hurt, to get dirty. It's about getting bruises every week on your shins and your quads, and even when you've just copped a corky in a ruck contest, getting back to the centre square and doing it again regardless. That's the sort of stuff it takes.
Dry Rot
11 Feb 2006, 00:46
A great article, but it fails to recognise the contribution of the Peter Street Liberation Army to the change in the Tall One's fortunes.
Anyone got Connolly's number?
OldSchool
11 Feb 2006, 07:14
Good article in todays Age.
A mean Street takes the hard road to success
February 11, 2006
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/02/10/wbFOOTYstreet_narrowweb__300x470,1.jpg Peter Street yesterday, ready for the season's challenges. 'A bit of responsibility came on my shoulders before the season's even started. 'PETER STREET
Photo: Sebastian Costanzo
When Bulldog Peter Street got angry, he showed his coach he was made of the right stuff for the ruck, reports Rohan Connolly.
It isn't lost on Peter Street that what might have been the low point of a pretty unspectacular AFL career midway through last year could end up proving the catalyst for so much more.
Street had clocked up only 17 senior games in five seasons with Geelong, 16 in his first season with the Western Bulldogs, but with 2005 ticking by, and skipper and No. 1 ruckman Luke Darcy already having missed several games after a knee reconstruction, Street still could not crack a spot in the senior 22.
He was a frustrated man indeed by the time he ran out for yet another appearance in the VFL colours of Werribee against Springvale in late May. When he snapped after conceding a free kick and gave away a 50-metre penalty, things could not have seemed worse. The reality was different.
"I cracked the ********s and fired up a bit and gave away 50, but Rocket (coach Rodney Eade) loved it," Street recalled. "He said: 'That's good, you showed a bit of presence. If you're a big fellow in the ruck, you've got to have a bit of presence about you'. The next week I played for the Bulldogs, and I didn't go back."
The gangling 211-centimetre giant shed an unwanted tag as possibly the most maligned player in the AFL and began to display more regularly the sort of talent that had been patiently nurtured over five years.
Street played 11 of the last 12 games, he and young ruck cohort Will Minson helping fill the giant void left in Darcy's absence. His best came in the final game of the season, against Collingwood, when he had double-figure possessions, half-a-dozen marks and more than 20 hitouts.
It's a performance from which he draws confidence.
When Darcy went down for a second time during the Bulldogs' last training run before the Christmas break, his knee requiring a second reconstruction, Street knew almost immediately that much more would be required of him. It's responsibility with which he is sitting very comfortably.
"At first, it was just shocking, because Darc is such an important and imposing figure even when he doesn't play in the ruck," he said. "But then I sort of switched on and thought: '********, I've got to stand up here'.
"Even though I was devastated for Darc, I thought: 'Well, it's just me and Will now, so if we're going to go somewhere this year, it's got to come from us in the middle'. A bit of responsibility came on my shoulders before the season's even started. That's really helped my training, and I think I've come out of myself a bit more round the club because of it."
For Street, the penny has finally well and truly dropped. He just wishes he knew back then what he does now about exactly what is required at AFL level week in, week out.
"I know I used to get pushed out of the way a lot. I didn't know what it takes to play footy back then," he said. "You've got to be prepared to get hurt, to get dirty. It's about getting bruises every week on your shins and your quads, and even when you've just copped a corky in a ruck contest, getting back to the centre square and doing it again regardless. That's the sort of stuff it takes.
"It comes naturally to Will, not so much for me, but it's something I definitely need to do. When I'm angry and fired up, I play a lot better. I'm getting better at it, but it's something I need to keep working on."
So how does he get angry? "I just get the boxing coach to bash me round the ears a few times in the warm-up. It's pretty hard for me to get fired up, but I know I play better when I do. That day against Springvale, it just happened instinctively. That's got to happen a lot for me."
And it's the sort of stuff at which Street is getting plenty of practice in his increasingly competitive ruck drills with Minson, supervised by Brownlow medallist and Bulldog ruck coach Scott Wynd.
But it's just typical, he says, of the sort of competitiveness being shown by all of the Bulldogs on the track at the moment, the consequence of a flying finish to last season and the consequent self-belief.
"The way we finished last year, I think really inspired the boys over the break not to let it slip," Street said. "This time, all the boys came back in better shape than they left. They were all really excited to get back and couldn't wait to play footy again.
"Everyone says they're flying this time of year, but all of us really are. We're fitter, we're training that much quicker, and our skills have been phenomenal. All the boys are really looking forward to proving that the end of last year wasn't a fluke."
So is Street, for whom the once frustratingly long road to a long-term AFL ruck career has begun, with a bit more aggression and the realisation of the responsibility now upon his shoulders, to look, as he puts it: "a lot simpler".
"It's nothing out of the ordinary for me to be able to play good footy," Street said. "I know now I can do it."
bulldogtragic
11 Feb 2006, 07:57
"It's nothing out of the ordinary for me to be able to play good footy," Street said. "I know now I can do it."
That's what i've been waiting for. To hear the confidence about himself, now he has got that, the sky is the limit.
Great PR spinning by the club too. Every second day we've got a great article on a new player. Cam, you've done it again.
OldSchool
11 Feb 2006, 08:29
"It's nothing out of the ordinary for me to be able to play good footy," Street said. "I know now I can do it."
That's what i've been waiting for. To hear the confidence about himself, now he has got that, the sky is the limit.
Great PR spinning by the club too. Every second day we've got a great article on a new player. Cam, you've done it again.
Yes I thought the same thing when I read that.
The media team do a great job of getting the club into the news.
ErnieSigley
11 Feb 2006, 09:37
Lets nude up
Dry Rot
11 Feb 2006, 09:42
I took off my clothes before reading the article.
Borgsta
11 Feb 2006, 09:48
I took off my clothes before reading the article.
I still havent put them back on.
Captain Sensible
11 Feb 2006, 09:49
I still havent put them back on.
His or yours?
Borgsta
11 Feb 2006, 09:55
His or yours?
I'll have to get back to you on that one.
Captain Sensible
11 Feb 2006, 10:33
I'll have to get back to you on that one.
:D .
Clark Kent
11 Feb 2006, 10:35
You guys are a real worry. Planning on nuding up at the games? :eek:
Peter sounds switched on, and very happy with Eade as coach. There is no way he should miss any games this year if fit. Play him, if available. A must.
Good work by those of you putting the articles up. Thanks.
Borgsta
11 Feb 2006, 10:35
:D .
Let me just say we are all dressed in my apartment now.:(
Captain Sensible
11 Feb 2006, 10:47
I'm sure that Japan has a law against nuding up for men over 200+cm.
Clark Kent
11 Feb 2006, 10:57
there should be a law in Australia, not Japan, about men of a 'certain age' (that's most of us here) nuding up, unless it's our partner and he/she is wearing some form of Bulldog attire.
A scarf sounds good.I'm sure that Japan has a law against nuding up for men over 200+cm.
That is the top of the old players race at WO Streeta is touching? Sheesh!
Can you imagine an aggresive Street, Minson and Hahn all around the ball at a forward 50 throw in?
Was anyone at Werribee the day this happened?
"I cracked the ********s and fired up a bit and gave away 50, but Rocket (coach Rodney Eade) loved it," Street recalled. "He said: 'That's good, you showed a bit of presence. If you're a big fellow in the ruck, you've got to have a bit of presence about you'. The next week I played for the Bulldogs, and I didn't go back."
dlanor the dog
11 Feb 2006, 20:15
Was anyone at Werribee the day this happened?
"I cracked the ********s and fired up a bit and gave away 50, but Rocket (coach Rodney Eade) loved it," Street recalled. "He said: 'That's good, you showed a bit of presence. If you're a big fellow in the ruck, you've got to have a bit of presence about you'. The next week I played for the Bulldogs, and I didn't go back."
That was the bit I liked best. We will see a different Peter Street this year
That was the bit I liked best. We will see a different Peter Street this yearI sit with members. Im from the country (2.5 hrs away) I love street. I think there is only 2 maybe 3 members who like him. He is an integral part of the machine. Hes great! I dont want to see a great difference in Peter Street this year just a different view from the members!!!!
paul scholes
12 Feb 2006, 00:07
come on chicks you know you want him.:D
OldSchool
12 Feb 2006, 07:26
I sit with members. Im from the country (2.5 hrs away) I love street. I think there is only 2 maybe 3 members who like him. He is an integral part of the machine. Hes great! I dont want to see a great difference in Peter Street this year just a different view from the members!!!!
2.5 hour travel is a big one. Good on you for doing that.
When members get a set against a player or two it's very hard for them to admit they might have made an error of judgement but if Street plays well enough for long enough then he will eventually win them over.
Anja_Nees
12 Feb 2006, 16:39
There's one bloke who sits near me in the members who still loudly bags Guido week in week out.
Anyway, it's great to see Streeter finally turn it around. I thought he was gone after he couldn't get a game despite Darcy's injury. I just hope he and will can sharpen their forward line skills bit. We really need it.
Captain Sensible
12 Feb 2006, 20:50
I sit with members. Im from the country (2.5 hrs away) I love street. I think there is only 2 maybe 3 members who like him. He is an integral part of the machine. Hes great! I dont want to see a great difference in Peter Street this year just a different view from the members!!!!
Respec' mon.