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Josh Bruce will take on his old football club for the first time on Saturday when he heads home in the GIANTS’ orange and charcoal to take on Eastlake Football Club at 2pm at Manuka Oval.
GIANTS reporter Beck Mills caught up with Josh ahead of Saturday’s clash to find out how the eighteen year old’s football is developing, how he is preparing to face his old team mates and his brother Aaron on Saturday and what he thinks of Israel Folau’s four goals last week.
So Josh, how are you feeling ahead of Saturday’s game?
I’m really excited, it’s the first time that I’ve come up against Eastlake, my brother and all the guys that I used to play footy against.
It should be a really good opportunity to showcase how far I’ve come in the last six months.
Do you have any mixed feelings about playing against Eastlake?
Not really. I think it’s pretty clear where my loyalties lie, sometimes you come up against old teams in footy, and that’s just how it is so I’m really looking forward to it.
What will be your main focus for Saturday’s game?
Just to focus on making a second and third effort when I go for the ball.
When you played against the combined ACT side, you were targeted and hit pretty hard, do you think the same thing will happen this week?
Maybe, that tends to happen against most of the Canberra clubs. That’s footy really and I just need to take it in my stride, deal with it and play my own game.
Does it run through your head during the week?
Yes but I see it as a positive. It means that they are concerned about me as a player so they try to intimidate me physically. The way that I try to combat that is by getting the ball and trying to expose them that way.
Do you think that you’ve changed much as a footballer or as a person since the game against ACT?
Yeah definitely, I think that I’ve matured a lot as a person, off the field and also on the field. I’ve developed a lot more of my skill set in that time and I’m looking forward to showcasing that this weekend.
Is there any chance that you’ll line up on your brother Aaron on the weekend?
I think so; he’s been playing a bit down back so if I’m up forward I might play on him.
Who would win the contest between you?
He might have me on the ground but I’m a bit taller than him so I might have him in the air.
You’ve played well in the last couple of games and were named in the side’s best against Brisbane, have you had some positive feedback on your form?
The coaches have been giving me good feedback about how I’ve been going. I guess you could say that I’ve had a little bit of good form but I’ve still got a long way to go to get to where I want to be.
I just want to take it week by week and I’m looking forward to hopefully playing well again this weekend and preparing for the game well.
There’s been a lot of talk about Israel’s four goals on the weekend, what was going through your head when he kicked the first goal and all the boys got around him?
It’s was really good for him. The boys all knew instinctively that it was his first goal so they ran to him.
Everyone has got a lot of respect for Izzy and feel for him and what he goes through and we were just glad that he could really enjoy himself out there and that he is enjoying the team aspect of AFL.
Do you think that he’s improved a lot in the last two weeks since he’s moved up forward?
Yeah, to a certain extent I do. I think that he has a lot more freedom in an attacking sense to blossom in the forward line but I think it’s going to be great for him to play at both ends of the ground.
Eastlake FC v GWS GIANTS
Saturday May 28, 2pm
Manuka Oval, Manuka Circle ACT
