‘Win the morning, win the day’.
It was the motto Brad Sheppard and Josh Kennedy lived by as training partners during the COVID-19-enforced AFL shutdown – a mantra that has served the pair of experienced West Coast stars well in 2020.
While gun defender Sheppard’s form has been unerring from week-to-week, no matter the quality of opponent, he saw more of the ball than he would have liked during three-straight losses to restart the season.
Kennedy, on the other hand, was starved of football until recently, when the Eagles reignited their campaign against Sydney and then built week on week with victories over Adelaide and Fremantle before thumping Collingwood.
While the Eagles veteran’s role is about much more than just kicking majors, his best afield four-goal effort in the RAC Derby followed by a brilliant seven-goal haul in the Pies victory garnered plenty of attention.
After watching how hard Kennedy worked during the three-month break between rounds one and two, Sheppard hasn’t been surprised the 32-year-old champion has proven yet again there is plenty left in the tank.
“He’s been threatening to tear a game apart for a number of weeks now,” Sheppard said.
“It was good to see him get reward for effort on the weekend.
“I think the delivery to him was first-class. All forward lines know it’s not about the one person, if you go behind the goals you see the selfless acts of our smaller forwards blocking for each other.
“He definitely got a lick of the icecream on the weekend, but in the COVID(-19) break-up I saw how hard he was training. He was my training partner for the majority and I saw the hard work he put in.
“He was disciplined. He was there first thing every morning. Our motto was ‘win the morning, win the day’.
“So we were up first thing and each session we did we trained with purpose and trained as though we were going to be playing within a couple of weeks.
“There was uncertainty but the motivation he brought to training definitely motivated me as well and I think he is reaping the rewards.”
A dual Coleman medallist, Kennedy has climbed to second overall in the League’s leading goalkicker standings with 18 majors – one behind Sydney speedster Tom Papley.
Meanwhile, Sheppard continues to play at an elite level week after week, putting himself back in All Australian contention after making the 40-man squad for the first time last year.
“No secret, just hard work,” Sheppard said of his form.
“I think being a senior player in the side I just want to strive for consistency and I think that’s what I’ve been able to do the last couple of years. Making sure my preparation is right and what I deliver.
“I need to make sure that I’m playing at a level which I now the coaching staff are expecting of me.
“I think this year has been a consistent year to date, so just got to keep doing the same things and educating the young kids coming through.
“We’ve got a pretty young backline at the moment with (Jackson) Nelson, (Tom) Coley, (Liam) Duggan as well and (Josh) Rotham on the weekend.
“Just trying to pass on experiences but also trying to maintain my own form level as well.”
While Sheppard would surely be among the John Worsfold Medal frontrunners, individual accolades run a distant second to team success for the 29-year-old.
The Eagles have positioned themselves back inside the top eight after four-straight wins but face another blockbuster showdown against third-placed Geelong at Optus Stadium which could have a significant impact on ladder positions later this year.
“We’re expecting a big game Saturday night,” Sheppard said.
“We need all our fans to come out and support us because they act as a 19th man for us out there.
“Fingers crossed we get a full house or as close to 30,000 as we can.”
