- Sep 21, 2004
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Rueful Cupido urges on Cole
23 July 2006 Sunday Herald Sun
ESSENDON discard Damian Cupido has urged besieged Bomber Richard Cole to throw himself into football, saying he would do anything to kick-start his AFL career.
Cupido, 24, has set the SANFL alight with 42 goals this year and is on the recruiting radar of both Adelaide clubs.
He admitted he wasted a golden opportunity at Essendon, but says talk he was like Eagle Michael Gardiner is wide of the mark.
Like Cole, Cupido was publicly criticised by coach Kevin Sheedy last year for a lack of devotion and says only now does he realise what the Bombers coach was trying to teach him.
"If they are saying thing like that to (Cole) like they did to me, all I would say is you have to work more than anyone else is doing," he said.
"The thing that I regret is that I wasn't in there twice as much as what I was, working on the areas that were criticised at the time.
"Looking back on it now, I should have worked three times as hard to get myself back to a level where I could be selected and play some reasonable footy.
"I wouldn't have gone and cruised, which is what I guess I did. I learned a lot of things, but when you are in that situation, you don't see it as much as you do when you are out."
Cupido's work rate and goal sense have impressed the South Australian football community this year, with the South African-born forward determined to change perceptions.
"All this Michael Gardiner stuff that has happened, I am not in the category of that sort of thing, and that is how I was labelled in the media," he said. "I am not sure how it came across, but certainly I wasn't yahooing around."
He hopes an AFL club will take a chance on him next year despite being moved on from Brisbane, then Essendon.
"I would go to Essendon again," he said. "I just want to play. I don't feel I fulfilled what I want to do in the world of AFL. I sold myself a bit short of what I am capable of doing and I want to get back on the park and fulfil that dream of mine."
Small article in today's Hun that would be overlooked by most. Remembering a previous thread posted when Cupido kicked something like 11 goals in a match, Cupido's statement of perhaps wanting to come back to Essendon would appease some posters here who believe he was hard done by the club.
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Saw this posted on BB and thought it was interesting. Should we consider re-drafting him?
23 July 2006 Sunday Herald Sun
ESSENDON discard Damian Cupido has urged besieged Bomber Richard Cole to throw himself into football, saying he would do anything to kick-start his AFL career.
Cupido, 24, has set the SANFL alight with 42 goals this year and is on the recruiting radar of both Adelaide clubs.
He admitted he wasted a golden opportunity at Essendon, but says talk he was like Eagle Michael Gardiner is wide of the mark.
Like Cole, Cupido was publicly criticised by coach Kevin Sheedy last year for a lack of devotion and says only now does he realise what the Bombers coach was trying to teach him.
"If they are saying thing like that to (Cole) like they did to me, all I would say is you have to work more than anyone else is doing," he said.
"The thing that I regret is that I wasn't in there twice as much as what I was, working on the areas that were criticised at the time.
"Looking back on it now, I should have worked three times as hard to get myself back to a level where I could be selected and play some reasonable footy.
"I wouldn't have gone and cruised, which is what I guess I did. I learned a lot of things, but when you are in that situation, you don't see it as much as you do when you are out."
Cupido's work rate and goal sense have impressed the South Australian football community this year, with the South African-born forward determined to change perceptions.
"All this Michael Gardiner stuff that has happened, I am not in the category of that sort of thing, and that is how I was labelled in the media," he said. "I am not sure how it came across, but certainly I wasn't yahooing around."
He hopes an AFL club will take a chance on him next year despite being moved on from Brisbane, then Essendon.
"I would go to Essendon again," he said. "I just want to play. I don't feel I fulfilled what I want to do in the world of AFL. I sold myself a bit short of what I am capable of doing and I want to get back on the park and fulfil that dream of mine."
Small article in today's Hun that would be overlooked by most. Remembering a previous thread posted when Cupido kicked something like 11 goals in a match, Cupido's statement of perhaps wanting to come back to Essendon would appease some posters here who believe he was hard done by the club.
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Saw this posted on BB and thought it was interesting. Should we consider re-drafting him?
