He’s the first to admit he’s not the flashiest player, nor the most-gifted athlete of the 2009 Draft crop, but after several setbacks Ben Cunnington is now emerging as one of the most valuable pick-ups.
For Cunnington it’s been a long time coming. A first-round pick, he arrived at Aegis Park with high expectations despite being an 18-year old fresh out of high school.
“I probably held back a bit in my first couple of years and was probably a bit scared of making mistakes,” Cunnington told kangaroos.com.au in a revealing interview.
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A ‘fear of failure’ affected the midfielder’s mindset during his first two years in the AFL.
“Especially last year in my worst couple of weeks I was struggling and was in and out of the team a lot. At that time you just feel lost, you don’t know where you are and you start doubting yourself and your own ability,” he said.
But Cunnington’s recent performances suggest that fear is a thing of the past and perhaps a sign of his experience. He’s averaged 25 possessions and 7 tackles over the last month.
“I suppose it’s just faith and confidence. Ever since I’ve got here the coaches have really believed in me, but it’s probably taken me a bit longer than other people to come on.”
“Going back to the VFL last time, talking to Brad (Scott) and Crock (Darren Crocker), they just said to ‘play footy, play your own game off your instincts’ and I think since coming back in (to the senior side) they’ve wanted me to do the same thing. I’m just trying to take off that pressure, and take more of a risk.
“Since I’ve been back in, I’ve been trying not to leave anything out there, just go and get the footy and if I make a mistake I make a mistake, but just trying to play more football.”
Cunnington admits one of his greatest challenges has been taking the step from being a member of the 22, to someone who stamps his authority on the game.
“It’s a little bit mental. I’ve just been trying to play my role, but I felt in my mind it’s probably enough,” he added.
“They say ‘if you play your role, you keep your spot’, that’s all I was really doing, I wasn’t having much other impact on the game. If I wanted to improve as a player I obviously had to take risks, and with risks there comes failure…but if you want to be a good player you need to take those risks.”
