Xavier O’Neill doesn’t want to wait his “turn” to make his West Coast debut, and hopes to emulate the leap forward Jack Petruccelle took last summer in his bid to break through.
After a year of learning and growth, when O’Neill exceeded expectations by playing 18 WAFL matches coming off a compromised pre-season, the 19-year-old Victorian midfielder is ready to attack 2020.
“It feels a lot different to last year. Obviously I kind of know what to expect now and I’m training,” O’Neill said during the Eagles’ community camp in WA’s south-west.
“Last pre-season was more about settling in and learning the gameplan, whereas this year I feel like I can work on my craft a little bit more.”
The Eagles’ first selection in the 2018 NAB AFL Draft at pick 28 overall, O’Neill’s first summer with the club was hampered by plica ligament irritation in his knee.
Just after the issue appeared to settle down over the Christmas break, it flared again in January.
“I got within two sessions of back to full training again and my knee blew up again and they sent me to get it snipped out,” O’Neill said.
“It was weird. It kind of caught me off guard because I’d felt something similar before in my knee. My knee had never puffed up.
“I ended up doing double the rehab because I did basically all the rehab and then had to rehab it all again.”
Despite the setbacks, O’Neill was ready for West Coast’s round one foray into the WAFL and built into the campaign.
After averaging 13 disposals in the regular season, he lifted in September as the Eagles made history by winning their first final against West Perth.
O’Neill was a standout, gathering 24 touches alongside prolific duo Brayden Ainsworth (26) and Hamish Brayshaw (29) in a gritty three-point triumph.
“That (performance) probably took a bit longer than I was hoping, but I took a fair bit of confidence out of that game,” O’Neill said.
“Throughout the year I was talking to ‘Belly’ (head of development Gavin Bell) a lot and he was saying ‘we know what you can do’ and ‘you’ve shown it in glimpses but probably haven’t put together a whole game’.
“That day I think I just went out and played. Mum and dad were over as well, which was good that they got to see that.
“I think towards the end of the season we were really close as a group and I was just focused loving playing and playing with these boys more.
“That was my focus instead of worrying too much about if I’m doing the gameplan right and I played my best game.”
Explosive and a quality ball user on both sides of his body, O’Neill is in the mould of Luke Shuey and wants to learn as much as possible from the new skipper when pre-season training resumes on January 6.
“First of all, (my aim is) not missing a session because you speak to everyone and usually the boys who step up in their second year like ‘Petch’, he was probably the best example last year (playing 20 games), he didn’t miss a session and it obviously gives you a good base,” O’Neill said.
“Other than that, just challenging myself more and testing myself against ‘Yeoy’ (Elliot Yeo) and ‘Boots’ because the messaging from ‘VB’ (midfield coach Nathan van Berlo) was don’t wait until they’re done and then it will be my turn.
“I don’t necessarily focus on (personal goals) like it’s the be all and end all if I don’t hit them, but I definitely want to play senior footy this year.
“I just want to be more consistent through quarters and full games. If I can focus on that then everything else should look after itself.
“I’m pretty keen for the year because I feel much better than last year – fitter, more mature, probably more confident and I know the boys better.”
