The newest member of the club’s leadership group, the former Box Hill Hawks’ captain reflected on the uncertainty that comes arriving at a new club.
PRESS PLAY above to watch the video interview | YouTube
“Sometimes when you haven’t been at a place for too long, you might not know what your team-mates think of you,” Gibson said.
“It’s really nice to be voted in by your peers and something that wasn’t necessarily planned. With the way that footy clubs work it’s nice to come in and perhaps be a little bit quiet, reserved, find your feet and get some runs on the board.
“As I started to do that I felt more and more comfortable around the group. I guess it was probably just a natural progression.”
For most players to get rise to such prominence at the age of 27, they’d have played a substantial amount of games for the club.
At just 35 career appearances, Gibson is the opposite; it speaks to his progression through the ranks from VFL to AFL.
“I felt that I was probably a bit of a late developer. I’m still excited now that at 27 years of age I’m still showing just as much improvement as I was at 18 or 19. It certainly keeps you motivated,” he added.
“To think of what I was doing three years ago obviously it’s a big change, but little incremental things happen along the way. It’s probably not until you finish that you look back and realise what you’ve done.”
With the pre-season in the home stretch and games appearing on the horizon, it doesn’t mean Gibson’s work on his game is done.
“It’s probably skill work, strength in the contest and decision making (to improve). It’s about playing more footy and getting used to that sort of pressure, being a more consistent player.
“I’m assuming I’ll play a similar role to last year which was off the wing and pinch hitting a bit at half-forward and through the middle. It’ll just be to make myself as versatile as possible so I can be played in as many different positions as is suited to the team.”
