Isaac Conway: A Scorpion’s Tale

The Scorpions program finished up last week, and I can’t help but feel a bit sad about it.

After the NT game last Thursday, which wrapped up our national championships, we were on a plane by 6:00pm and home that night, in a whirlwind end to the trip.

It was great to finish off with a win over NT and we showed our resilience, after being down late in the game and then holding on to win.

On the trip home, I thought a lot about the week and what I did right and what I did wrong.

I replayed a few things that went down in Melbourne and thought about how they could have unfolded if things went a bit differently.

I think the NSW/ACT game was the highlight of the week, with such a good comeback really setting up the whole week.

If we had gone down in that game, it could have been a really flat experience, but instead it ended up being a really positive one.

Now, we all head back to our own clubs and focus on making a bit of an impression in senior footy.

All of the boys have developed such a strong bond over the season and I really would’ve liked to play out the rest of the year with the state side, so going to be a bit rough not seeing a lot of the guys every week.

I think that bond and that mateship is the most valuable thing I have gotten out of footy.

Over my time in footy, I have met a lot of great mates and they’ll be good friends for life.

The relationship that we have showed in our nationals campaign, everyone had each other’s backs and I think that’s what got us over the line against NSW/ACT and NT.

From a footy perspective, being able to be coached by Queensland’s best and learn off them has been an incredible experience.

I’m really going to miss the chance to play against other states and trying to match it with the best players they have to offer.

Not many boys have the chance to represent their state through junior and U18 footy, and I really appreciate how lucky I am to have been able to do that.

After spending so much time with the boys and in state footy, I’m almost having withdrawal now that it’s back to our normal lives – getting up for work and getting back into the swing of things.

I had a bit of an extra blow when I got back, finding out I cracked my shoulder blade, which means I can’t really do too much for the next few weeks.

For now, all I can really do is bike ride.

I can’t run or do any weights, so I’ll just be working on keeping fit and once the break is healed, I should be back running and then playing in a few weeks.

I think I first injured it against Tasmania and maybe aggravated it in Melbourne last week, but I’m not sure exactly when it happened.

It’s a bit of a pain being injured now – I really wanted to come home and prove I can play good senior footy, not just against guys my own age, but that’s the way it goes.

I’d certainly rather be out there playing – no one likes being injured – but now all I can do is make sure I do all the little things to help it heal as quickly as possible.

With the draft getting closer, I hope that it doesn’t affect my chances of being picked up and that’s in the back of my mind, but whatever happens is what’s meant to happen.

I’m really glad to have been able to give share a bit of my life with you and I hope I have been able to offer some insights into the Scorpions program.