Cameron Lockwood, right, with new recruit Michael Stockdale. 77319 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By MICHAEL ESPOSITO
WILLIAMSTOWN Football Club is treating Cameron Lockwood as a new recruit.
The defender is on track to play his first senior game for the Seagulls since 2010, after undergoing two hip operations early last year and finishing the 2011 season with four games in the reserves.
“I’m not here to make up numbers,” an invigorated Lockwood said.
“I played pretty much all senior football when I was fit and bit younger, and missing a year has only just made me want to play seniors a lot more and I think if I get my body right, which I’m pretty confident I have done, I will play plenty of senior footy.”
Lockwood said the mystery of his hip and groin troubles was maddening, and because he didn’t know what was wrong, he felt like there was no option but to push through the pain.
It became obvious after his arthroscopic surgery that he would miss most of the season, but after getting through four reserves game last year and putting in a solid, if not punishing, pre-season, Lockwood is raring to go.
“I’ve been a bit smarter with how I’ve trained this pre-season. I’ve just been offloading a lot and not going overboard, not doing the extra running after training with the boys, and just sort of tapering off a little bit so I’m ready to go by the start of the season,” he said.
“The last couple weeks have felt really good. Leading into the practice matches I’ve been training fully and I played in the intra-club and I’m ready to go.”
Lockwood made the most his time off the park to further his footy education, by spending time in the coach’s box and doing some midfield coaching with the reserves and forward line coaching with the seniors.
“You see a whole different aspect of football really, all the behind the scenes stuff. How the coaches go about it in the box, it is interesting and it’s probably going to hold me in a lot better stead going into the season and playing football, just having that extra knowledge.”
There’s no doubt fans will be thrilled to see Lockwood running around in the seniors again. He will be a familiar face among a raft of new recruits that signals a new era for the Seagulls.
Even by VFL standards, Williamstown will be a very different looking team than last year, with former captain Brett Johnson, Ben Davies and David Stretton leaving the club, and the inclusion of ex-Casey players Michael Stockdale and James Wall, Clinton Proctor and Jamie McNamara
“There’s been a massive changeover in the list, with a lot of young kids and really good 18 to 19 year-old talent, and they’re just exciting to watch and to be a part of,” Lockwood said.
“There’s not really many players who played in last year’s grand final with those three blokes gone, and even a couple of the Bulldogs players that played in the grand final are at different clubs now so it’s a whole different feel.”
Lockwood said while coach Peter German ran a tight ship, the new assistant coaches, particularly former Port Melbourne assistant coach Andrew Mirams, have implemented some of their methodologies to the team’s structures.
