Ellard primed for big finish to frustrating 2019

IT is fair to say it's been a frustrating 2019 WAFL season for Swan Districts as a team and co-captain David Ellard personally, but he is focused on a strong finish to the campaign and has thrown his full support behind coach Adam Pickering.

It has been a 2019 season that has never really got off the group for Ellard. His troublesome calf didn’t allow him to make his first appearance at league level until Round 2 and then after getting through two games, he went down hurt again in Round 4 against West Perth.

He then missed Round 5 against Subiaco before returning a week later against East Fremantle in what would prove his last appearance at league level until Round 14 when he made his way back for the loss to East Fremantle prior to last weekend's bye.

While it's a season that is a frustrating one terms of the win-loss record now for Swan Districts as they prepare to face South Fremantle this Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval sitting two games clear in bottom spot having lost six straight, it's far from a lost cause.

The team currently running out for Swan Districts is lacking plenty of the experience that Swans hoped to see out the season with including the absence of Round 14 of Jesse Turner, Nathan Blakely, Warrick Wilson, Josh Cipro, Tony Stephens and Josh Simpson.

While if you look at the 2-11 record then it's easy to feel down about the Swan Districts season of 2019.

But the fact that the likes of Denver Grainger-Barras, Nathan Ireland, Seb Bright, Callum Garcia, Aidan Clarke, Dylan Smith, Jackson Beck, Patrick Farrant, Jordan Bill, Lachlan Riley, Tristen Raynor and Denzel More have been blooded to create for the future then it's not all doom and gloom.

Ellard has been watching the season mostly from the sidelines and obviously the wins haven’t been coming, but he sees plenty of positives moving forward.

"It's been an interesting year for us especially with the way we started. I thought we were playing some pretty good footy but we just weren’t able to get over the line in a few games," Ellard said on 91.3 SportFM.

"Now with our group, we're playing a very young team at the moment and I think it will hold the club in good stead for coming years but we do have a really strong group of young players which has been great for me personally to invest a bit of time into those guys to help them out with my past experiences. 

"But hopefully we can finish with some strong performance in the back block of the season to gain some traction going into pre-season."

It's fair to say it's been a frustrating season for Ellard too given he's now only been able to play five league games due to injury. 

While that has been fair from ideal, he tries to look at the positives and the fact that he's been able to focus on helping the young players while he hasn’t been able to be on the field on the regular basis is something he feels has been able to turn into a positive.

"Personally it has been a frustrating year with injury. I've only clocked up the five games this year and the body is starting to take its toll for the years of footy, but working alongside the young blokes has given me a real purpose down at the footy club even when I've been injured," he said.

"I've battled with injuries for five or six years really and it seems to be the same calf that I keep having troubles with. The frustration point to this injury was coupled with the way we were playing too. 

"I just came back into the group after doing something in pre-season, played three games and then to spend the next six weeks out was quite frustrating. But it gave me a chance to look at the group and really work with some of the younger guys down at the footy club which has been great for me. 

"It was great to keep my mind off not being able to play and I suppose when you're coming towards the latter of your career, it plays a bit more on your mind with how the body is and how it's going to hold up going forward. 

"But I feel really strong at the moment, I don’t have any issues so the body is feeling good and hopefully I can finish off strongly in the last five games and then see what happens from there."

Ellard is now 30 years of age and a father of two with a building career outside of football so it would be understandable why he might think his WAFL career is nearing an end when you factor in the troubles he is having getting his body healthy.

But when fit, Ellard does remain a standout WAFL footballer whether he is playing in the forward-line or midfield at Swan Districts so any decision to call time shouldn't be a hasty one.

That's why Ellard isn’t ready to make any decision on his future just yet and instead is focusing on making the most of these last five games of 2019.

"It's still a bit early to make a decision but there's obviously a few things you take into consideration at this time of year when you are in a position similar to mine," Ellard said.

"But at the moment my focus is on getting back to playing some good footy in these last five games that we have so that I can make sure I play my role for the team, and make sure that I'm a valuable contributor going forward.

"We are a really young group so it's even more important for our senior guys to provide a lot of leadership going forward on-field so that's going to be one my biggest tasks over the next month or so. 

"I want to make sure I'm leading by example and embracing the younger guys coming through, and encouraging them to play with their own flair and dash, and not to go into their shells like you can do when you come up into senior ranks."

Whether or not Ellard continues his playing career in 2019 is a decision for another day, either way he does hope to see that Adam Pickering remains in charge as senior coach. 

"We have a great relationship and I think we work well together, drawing on both our experiences. I think Adam definitely is the right person for the job going forward at Swan Districts," Ellard said.

"He's come in with a structured coaching outlook which we might not have always had and the training standards, and expectations of the playing group has really lifted since he's been there. 

"We are definitely on the right track in terms of our culture and what we want to work for which is something he has been really strong on in his first two years.

"Going forward, I definitely think he is the right man for the job and I've learned a lot from his coaching as well and hopefully he's picked up a couple of things from myself as well. 

"He definitely has the playing group on board and it's just going to take a bit of time to get experience into our younger players. But he works so well with the younger kids and provides such structure, and he has a close link to the AFL coming from East Perth and even his experience as a player."