West Coast Eagles leading goal kicker and star forward Jake Waterman has been in outstanding form this season, passing his career-best goal kicking total after just 10 rounds, with no signs of slowing down.
Waterman currently sits equal-first in the Coleman Medal race with 29 goals for the year, and the 26-year-old said dual Coleman Medallist and former Eagles great Josh Kennedy was one of his idols growing up who has helped shape his career.
“I was a big ‘Lloydy’ (Matthew Lloyd) fan, Jonathan Brown, I was a big Port supporter growing up so (Warren) Tredrea,” Waterman said.
“So many guys, (Josh) Kennedy, I had ‘JK’ and ‘Lecca’ (Mark LeCras) as the screen saver on my phone for a couple of years there, and then ended up playing some footy with them and becoming great mates with them.
“I look at guys like Kennedy and Darling and they’ve taught me so much as men and as a footballer, and I’m starting to reap the rewards off their years of guidance.”
Waterman’s recent form has been remarkable, to which he simply credits a lot of hard work.
“I think it started around the Richmond game back then, just clunking a few marks and have been able to carry on some form ever since,” Waterman said.
“I don’t know if I can put it down to one thing, it’s probably a combination of a lot of things and a lot of hard work to be able to get a little bit of reward on the scoreboard.”
West Coast caused one of the biggest upsets of the season when they defeated premiership contenders Melbourne on Sunday at Optus Stadium, and Waterman said the confidence within himself and the team is growing.
“As a team, barring last week obviously, we’re feeling pretty confident at the moment in the way we play and it’s definitely rubbing off on me, that’s for sure,” Waterman said.
Fellow key forward Jack Darling impressed in the 35-point victory on the weekend, finishing with a career-high 12 tackles, three goals and seven score involvements, and Waterman said Darling’s defensive pressure has lifted his game to another level in recent weeks.
“He’s good, his game this year hasn’t been solely based on goals,” Waterman said.
“He was criticised a little bit earlier in the year about his impact on the field, and he just stripped it right back to his contest in the air and on ground level.
“His defensive pressure for someone of that size is pretty amazing, and what he was able to do for us on the weekend, he kicked a few goals himself, but he would have created a lot more.
“Having the best version of Jack doing all sorts of things is great for us.”
Newly appointed co-captain and 2023 leading goal-kicker Oscar Allen has spent the past nine games sidelined with a knee injury, and Waterman said he and the team can’t wait to see Allen back in the forward line.
“I don’t know how it’s going to work or when he will be back, but we can’t wait to have him back in,” Waterman said.
“Me, Jack (Darling) and Oscar have a pretty good relationship out on the field playing together, and we’ve only had a small sample size of it so far with all three of us in the same team.
“Add Jack Williams in there, Bailey Williams when he floats forward, Ryan Maric, it’s pretty potent with flying targets down there, so can’t wait to have him back in.”
