Brad Scott’s good friends with Simon Lethlean. “My old coach, I hope he doesn’t mind if I say this.
#Brad wing pro football focus free#
Wood went untouched throughout the delisted free agent period and was content to try to force his way back into the league via the VFL. The situation was compounded by the fact that list sizes were being squeezed. I probably hadn’t played a really decent game of football for probably 18 months at that stage,” Wood, who played 65 senior matches at North, says. Which is why I said I was so lucky to get another opportunity. And I certainly wasn’t playing good footy when I got delisted. “If you’re playing good footy then things work out. Cut from the team that finished second-last, what had once looked a promising career was no guarantee to continue.
A little under two years ago he was one of 11 players delisted in the immediate aftermath of North Melbourne’s horrendous hub stint. Wood appreciates that in one sense he’s fortunate to be able to have that conversation with King. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images Mason Wood is expecting big things from Max King. Because at the end of the day he’s going to get better and better and want the ball in his hand more often than not.” “And I said, ‘I’d hate for you to lose that because of what’s been said, it’s just finding the balance when you have to and when you can back yourself in’. And you think, ‘Wow, how’s a guy that’s bloody 6’7 doing that, it’s phenomenal’. And there’s plenty of times when Max doesn’t give a handball and slices through and kicks a goal. “The best players are really good at making those decisions on the fly. You’re thinking, ‘I need to kick a goal, I’m a forward’. I’ve been on the receiving end from multiple blokes when you do that type of thing inside 50. I go, ‘I really gave Max some strong feedback there and I need to follow this up’,” Wood says. “My dad said, ‘It was good to see you give feedback.’ I don’t think I’ve ever given such strong feedback, put it that way. But after the stern words came the follow-up conversation.
A year earlier and Wood might have just looked the other way. King vied for a spectacular attempt from the pocket, only to spray the chance. So to Marvel Stadium and what was looming as a comfortable Saints’ victory. If we keep glossing over things, then potentially don’t put in the focus that they need to on that area. There’s plenty of guys that have done the same. It’s not something that comes super naturally to me. “A lot of contested work … I’ve just got to better in those contests and certainly feel like I’ve done that. “I’ve been hit up a few times this year in certain spaces and I’d like to say I’ve gone to work on them and got better,” Wood says.
Contested ball had never been a major strength of his across a decade in the AFL system but you’re never too old to improve. Wood had been on the other end of the equation on several occasions. Mason Wood has found his voice at St Kilda.