Brady Allen has a new role to play in the Western Magpies lineup this year, and the round 9 Rising Star nominee is thriving in it.
A pre-season move now sees Allen directing traffic from the half back line, instead of running into it as a forward.
“I’ve played a lot of my career as a forward, but this year I have been playing a bit down back and on the wing, and I suppose at the moment I’m currently a lot more comfortable,” Allen said.
“Hump (Glenn Humphrey) just thought he would give it a try and it’s worked so far so we are sticking with it. I do like running with the ball more rather than leading up at it as a forward.”
He earned the nomination after a commanding performance in the Magpies’ win over UQ on Saturday.
To put it simply, he had it on a string.
“Yeah it wasn’t too bad. I guess I gradually worked into it, I don’t think I started to well but gradually worked into it,” he said.
“The way that the team worked on the weekend was great, I just happened to be the one on the end of it getting a lot of the footy.”
Allen’s 2015 season, his forth at senior level, is building nicely, priming himself for a finals assault if the Magpies continue their good form.
“It is progressing a lot better than I originally thought. I started off in the two’s, playing a couple of games with them, but I’m working towards playing consistent senior football,” he said.
The Magpies made it six on the trot on the weekend, but Allen is well aware of the task they face in the next three weeks, coming up against the other top four teams.
“It’s been a good result so far, we would just like to consolidate our spot on the ladder and knock off the two above us in the next two weeks.,” Allen said.
“It is certainly going to be a really hard game. It’s going to be very physically taxing, there will be a lot of running, but it should be a good contest.”
He is very keen to continue his good form when it matters.
“You always want to perform against the best teams and the best players, so now it’s time to stand up,” he said.
The Magpies travel to Jack Esplen Oval on Saturday to square off against Morningside.
By Andrew Wiles – @andrewjwiles
