Having spent the past few seasons with Coburg, newly appointed vice-captain Nathan Boucher is as confident as ever at Piranha Park.
Boucher came across to Coburg in 2020 following a couple of seasons on the AFL-aligned Box Hill Hawks list, saying that his time here has helped gain him confidence.
“Being a part of one club as opposed to having an aligned system and having players chopping and changing each week is almost a feeling of having a second home in one sense. You know the deal in an aligned environment that you’re not always a priority. Being at a standalone club like Coburg allows for people to build on confidence a bit more, that was the biggest difference for me,” Boucher said.
“A few times at Box Hill I found myself coming in and out of the side even after performing well. From a playing point of view it was hard to build confidence and back my skills week in, week out.
“The opportunity at Coburg (on the other hand) if you play well and play your role you’ll hold your spot and hopefully progress your football and achieve team success, which is the ultimate goal at a standalone club.”
And with that increased confidence Boucher has become a key player and will see him become one of the leaders on the field alongside new captain Jesse Corigiliano and fellow vice-captain Mitch Podhjaski.
Boucher added that it was an honour to be appointed co-vice captain for this coming season.
“Humbled and honoured are the two words that come to mind that the playing group have the trust and faith in me to deliver the leadership qualities to propel this club forward and also trusting me that I’m the right person suitable for this job.
“I’ve had leadership experience in the past with other roles in juniors and senior level at cricket, but to stand next to Mitch and Rigga, us three are going to provide and give very different views.
“(Whilst) our reasoning might be different, we’re very aligned and all have the same goal of trying to extract the maximal performance out of each individual player and as a team.”
It’s been a massive offseason of change so far, with many players departing but eight so far signing on for season 2023 as well as a new coach only being introduced last weekend.
And with a new coach, Boucher believes that it will present an opportunity for the players as well as fans to see some new up and coming talent as well as current talent excel in new roles
“We’ve obviously had some experience leave and some players rotate out the revolving door of what VFL football can be at times, but that only provides opportunity for these new fellas that are up and coming to put their hand up and hopefully seal their spot in the side.”
For Boucher personally whilst he believes that he can take his game to another level, his primary objective is to help Coburg gain more success.
“I’m someone that tries to better themself everyday and my goal this year will be to do the same. Whatever role that I play in this year I’m trying to do whatever’s best for the team.
“Whether personal success comes off the back of that I really couldn’t care less, my ultimate goal this year is to bring Coburg more wins and continue that upward trajectory of progression and development. If I can do that, that’s a big tick on my end.”
By Joshua Ward
Coburg FC Media
