Milestone man Brad Sheppard is seeing good signs in West Coast’s form but says the Eagles are still building and their challenge will be to bring their best across four quarters against a St Kilda team on the rebound this Saturday.
Sheppard is set to represent the Eagles in his 200th career game at Marvel Stadium, a significant achievement for a player who readily admits he didn’t find the step up to the elite level easy as a youngster making his way.
However, since settling in defence the 29-year-old has become an All Australian player, and someone that coach Adam Simpson can trust with shutting down the opposition’s most dangerous small or mid-sized forward on a weekly basis.
He could face another big job on one of the Saints’ fleet-footed small forwards Dan Butler or Jack Higgins at Marvel Stadium, and will no doubt handle the job with a typical minimum of fuss.
“It’s gone quick,” Sheppard said of his milestone.
“It hasn’t been easy. At the start of my career it took me a while to cement myself in the side, whether it was injuries or form.
“The rollercoaster of AFL football it was evident in my career, especially at the start. To be able to play 200 games in my home state with a club like West Coast is something I’m pretty proud of."
Sheppard has seen some positives from the side in the opening three rounds, particularly since half-time of the round two loss to the Western Bulldogs and early in Saturday night’s 37-point victory over Port Adelaide.
“It was nice to get the win. They touched us up the last couple of times we played them and to start the way we did, I thought we really got on the front foot early and piled on a few goals early which set up the game for us,” Sheppard said.
“In saying that, there’s still a lot of room for improvement. They outscored us in the second half, so we were unhappy with how we played after half-time.
“I think we’ve seen glimpses throughout our games to date is our best footy is capable of challenging the best sides in the comp. The challenge no for the group is to try and do it consistently.
“I thought we had a pretty strong second half last week against the Bulldogs and carried it into the weekend.
“We understand it’s a marathon, it’s only round three going into round four this week. We feel like we’ve still got a lot of improvement in the side.”
Meanwhile, Sheppard felt for “ultimate professional” Luke Shuey, who is awaiting scan results after another hamstring setback late in his stunning comeback game.
“It was unfortunate to see him come off. Hopefully it’s not too bad but we’ll find out over the next couple of days the severity,” Sheppard said.
“Unfortunately for Luke he’s had a couple of soft-tissue injuries in the past and missed a couple of weeks.
“He’s our captain, he’s our leader, and you saw the impact he has on the team. The way he played don Saturday night, I thought he was sensational.
“He’s an upbeat person. Whether he’s on the field or not he’s always going to be the same bloke and it was good to see him getting around the boys at the end.”
