The longer Hamish Russell plays AFL, the more he learns.
Like how long it takes to come good from a day of throwing your body around.
“I’m getting pains in areas I’ve never got pains before,” Russell said.
“It’s taking more than a week to recover these days.”
For that reason, Russell was one of the most appreciative of last week’s bye.
“I’ve said to the coach ‘I’m available for every game’ but the body’s not holding up so well so the break in between games is fruitful,” Russell said.
But it doesn’t stop the 41-year-old Bulldog, who moved to Gunnedah about four years ago from the Blue Mountains, getting out there and doing whatever job is required.
“I do get thrown in the ruck, because of my size, but every time I get thrown in there I tell them I can’t get much elevation off the ground,” Russell said.
“I can do the body rucking from the sideline throws but I can’t do the jump in the centre but I don’t mind it. It is a younger man’s game, though, the ruck position.”
In his time at the club, Russell has seen a dramatic change in form by the Bulldogs
“As soon as I turned up, I joined the Bulldogs,” he said.
“It went from struggling in the first year to last season’s victory.
“There’s some good, new, young kids coming through now to join the side.”
On Saturday, the Bulldogs will have their first road trip of the 2018 AFL North West season to take on Moree who’ve had two wins.
Russell was looking forward to the challenge the Suns – and the trip itself – provided.
“They’ve had a good start to the year,” Russell said.
“They’ve got some good points on the table and had some good blokes at the start of the season. It will be interesting to see if those guys are still playing. It’ll be interesting to see how many numbers we get and see how enjoyable the bus trip is on the way home.”
