2005 looking up for Gaspar
11:50:46 AM Thu 10 March, 2005
Paul Gough
Sportal for afl.com.au
By any standards 2004 was Darren Gaspar's "annus horribilis."
The dual All-Australian defender was reduced to a shadow of his old self as his form and that of his club disintegrated to the point where the Tigers lost their last 14 games to collect their first wooden spoon since 1989 and Gaspar was dropped to the reserves.
But as the 2005 home and away season fast approaches, the 28-year-old is finally fully recovered from the knee injury he sustained midway through the 2003 season and ready to reclaim his mantle as one of the AFL's best key defenders.
"I think I can play consistent footy and I am looking forward to a good year," Gaspar said in an exclusive interview.
Gaspar also revealed the difficulties he played under in 2004 when he wore the brunt of criticism for the Tigers' horrendous season, which by season's end had seen Danny Frawley replaced as coach by Terry Wallace.
The 195 game veteran admits he returned to senior action too quickly, at the start of the 2004 season barely eight months after undergoing a knee re-construction in the middle of the 2003 season.
And as a result one of the toughest jobs in football - minding the likes of Essendon's Matthew Lloyd and Melbourne's David Neitz - became virtually impossible.
"I wouldn’t say I was forced to come back (too early), I wanted to play as soon as possible," he said of last year's comeback from knee surgery.
"It was a challenge but in hindsight, with the side playing poorly, it made it a lot harder job and the knee didn’t go as well as what I would have liked so the forces were against me last year."
Gaspar found that because his knee had not fully recovered, he was unable to get into the positions needed to successfully negate the opposition's best forward, as he did so regularly in 2001 when the Tigers reached the preliminary final.
"I had no power to change direction and accelerate," he said.
"I lost a lot of power in my legs and I just started to slow up and struggle."
"But it (his knee) has come up a lot better this year and I am running a lot quicker."
Gaspar admitted he found the criticism of his performances and being dropped difficult to take last year.
"It's not much fun when you are doing everything you can and nothing responds," he said.
"I didn’t like it (the criticism) but I just kept on telling myself I was doing everything right and a lot of things were out of my control."
But after a full pre-season this year and the excitement generated by new coach Wallace and a host of new recruits, Gaspar can hardly wait for 2005 to start.
"Both on a personal level and obviously the team as well, it's looking better so it's pretty exciting," he said.
"On a personal level I have had the full 12 months to get over the knee now and I've had a good pre-season and a few practice games - which I didn’t have last year - so it looks a lot more promising."
"I am just looking forward to getting out there now and play consistent football and I have no doubt the side will play better so I am looking forward to playing in more wins."
Here's hoping.
11:50:46 AM Thu 10 March, 2005
Paul Gough
Sportal for afl.com.au
By any standards 2004 was Darren Gaspar's "annus horribilis."
The dual All-Australian defender was reduced to a shadow of his old self as his form and that of his club disintegrated to the point where the Tigers lost their last 14 games to collect their first wooden spoon since 1989 and Gaspar was dropped to the reserves.
But as the 2005 home and away season fast approaches, the 28-year-old is finally fully recovered from the knee injury he sustained midway through the 2003 season and ready to reclaim his mantle as one of the AFL's best key defenders.
"I think I can play consistent footy and I am looking forward to a good year," Gaspar said in an exclusive interview.
Gaspar also revealed the difficulties he played under in 2004 when he wore the brunt of criticism for the Tigers' horrendous season, which by season's end had seen Danny Frawley replaced as coach by Terry Wallace.
The 195 game veteran admits he returned to senior action too quickly, at the start of the 2004 season barely eight months after undergoing a knee re-construction in the middle of the 2003 season.
And as a result one of the toughest jobs in football - minding the likes of Essendon's Matthew Lloyd and Melbourne's David Neitz - became virtually impossible.
"I wouldn’t say I was forced to come back (too early), I wanted to play as soon as possible," he said of last year's comeback from knee surgery.
"It was a challenge but in hindsight, with the side playing poorly, it made it a lot harder job and the knee didn’t go as well as what I would have liked so the forces were against me last year."
Gaspar found that because his knee had not fully recovered, he was unable to get into the positions needed to successfully negate the opposition's best forward, as he did so regularly in 2001 when the Tigers reached the preliminary final.
"I had no power to change direction and accelerate," he said.
"I lost a lot of power in my legs and I just started to slow up and struggle."
"But it (his knee) has come up a lot better this year and I am running a lot quicker."
Gaspar admitted he found the criticism of his performances and being dropped difficult to take last year.
"It's not much fun when you are doing everything you can and nothing responds," he said.
"I didn’t like it (the criticism) but I just kept on telling myself I was doing everything right and a lot of things were out of my control."
But after a full pre-season this year and the excitement generated by new coach Wallace and a host of new recruits, Gaspar can hardly wait for 2005 to start.
"Both on a personal level and obviously the team as well, it's looking better so it's pretty exciting," he said.
"On a personal level I have had the full 12 months to get over the knee now and I've had a good pre-season and a few practice games - which I didn’t have last year - so it looks a lot more promising."
"I am just looking forward to getting out there now and play consistent football and I have no doubt the side will play better so I am looking forward to playing in more wins."
Here's hoping.
