One week after being named best-on-ground in the Development League, Chas Roberts became the latest player to make his Senior VFL debut, named as the 23rd man for Saturday’s match against Port Melbourne.
The 201cm, 86kg, 20-year old played 12 Development League games in what has been his first year at the club, and felt mixed emotions when told he would be playing in the Seniors.
“I was super excited and nervous at the same time,” Roberts said.
“I wanted to justify my inclusion, and prove the coaches right for putting their faith in me,” the West Preston Lakeside junior continued.
Before signing on with Coburg, Roberts played 18 games for the Knights, and led the TAC Cup competition in hit-outs; recording 425 for the season.
He also represented the Northern Blues in one Development League game last year, featured in the annual AFL Victoria Young Guns game, and to top off an impressive 2016 season, was also named the Northern Knights ‘Most Improved Player’.
In his first match of Senior VFL footy however, the young ruckman admits the speed of the game was a lot quicker.
“I noticed a big change in the speed of the game and an increase in physical pressure,” he said.
“I thought I competed reasonably well in the ruck (16 hitouts) but found it challenging to adjust to the change in ball movement and positioning around the ground.”
“It was very exciting to play with a group of teammates for the first time this year after training with them for 9 months.”
This season, Roberts has been working on his strength and mobility off-field, while also focussing on “constantly changing up [his] ruck work throughout the match”.
Roberts was rewarded for his hard work and dedication when club legend Vin Taranto presented him his first Senior guernsey, which he hopes will not be his last.
But in order to keep his spot in the Seniors, Roberts knows he must continue to improve even more.
“I need to work on maintaining front position in ruck contests, and having a larger impact and physical presence around the ground,” Roberts said.
“I’ll be continually learning and improving from the experience of playing with and against seasoned VFL footballers.”
Coburg General Manager Sebastian Spagnuolo was happy with the club’s decision to debut Roberts on Saturday, and hopes he will enter the 2018 preseason with a new mindset.
“The club felt it would serve Chas well to get a taste of VFL football in his first year on the list, so that he could enter the 2018 preseason with a greater self-understanding of the level of competition and areas to work on over the summer,” Spagnuolo said.
“Obviously we would’ve liked him to play more forward, but with Tommy getting injured, Chas had to step up to the challenge, and had to ruck solo against a quality ruckman in Haretuku from Port Melbourne,” he continued.
“Chas will no doubt be looking to now finish off the 2017 season pretty positively, and is a player that we know will be better for having debuted.”
Congratulations to Chas Roberts, and Hear the Lions Roar!
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