Jacob Weitering reveals how he rediscovered his confidence after a disappointing 2018 season
Carlton defender Jacob Weitering knew he needed to make some changes after a 2018 season where his confidence was shot as he started to feel the weight of being a No.1 draft pick.
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The 2019 version of Jacob Weitering craves the big moments and the big jobs.
Last year’s model didn’t want them.
The 21-year-old spent part of 2018 in the VFL and admits he struggled with his confidence, and fell into the trap of comparing himself to others from his 2015 draft pool.
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He saw some of them coming along while he was battling away in the twos, which did nothing to help his situation and enjoyment of the game.
“Definitely there was a confidence element coming into it,” Weitering told the Herald Sun.
“I’m a key position back that has to go up against the best key forwards in the game, and when the confidence is down and a forward’s confidence is up it can get ugly real quick.
“Being a key position backman, I don’t like to use the excuse that it takes time to develop.
“I wanted to play well and I set high standards for myself.
“People do the same around me and it just wasn’t clicking for me, especially the first half of last year.”
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In a bid to rediscover his mojo, the fourth-year player went back to basics during the pre-season by training as hard as he could every single session.
“I knew I couldn’t get complacent and I just needed to compete with the best, so I went back to who competes the best at training,” he said.
“Liam Jones is certainly one, Ed Curnow is another and Charlie (Curnow) as a forward is the best way to go.
“So I just trained non-stop with those guys one on one, and they’re just little stepping stones along the way you get the confidence back when you start to beat a few of those guys and you go from there.
“It brought back some confidence into my game.
“I was drafted for a reason and I guess I was pick No.1 for a reason and at times you can forget that, particularly in a side that’s not performing as well.”
Fast forward and Weitering has proved to be one of Carlton’s shining lights down back this season.
His game in last week’s come-from-behind win over Brisbane Lions was his best for some time, reminding many of his huge upside.
Blues backline assistant coach Dale Amos has certainly noticed the change in Weitering this year in many areas.
“I think he now wants the expectation and he enjoys playing on good players,” Amos said.
“That’s something he craves doing every week, and I think that’s something he’s grown in to.
“He’s certainly capable of that now and he’s starting to show some leadership around the footy club.
“I think he is relishing the responsibility at the moment.”
Weitering was the No.1 pick in 2015, a tag which comes with its own pressures and expectations.
Even though he enjoyed a strong start to his career, the young Blue said it can be initially tough to live with.
“As a young guy you probably do let the external pressure get to you a bit, but as you get a little bit more experienced with more pre-seasons and guys in your ear a bit more, they just tell you to block it out and I think I did that pretty early,” Weitering said.
“But the one thing that comes with that is you’re the No.1 pick, so at the time you’re picked as the best player in your draft.
“Then the concerning thing that can happen is you can start to compare yourself to others, and there’s no point me comparing myself to Callum Mills or a Clayton Oliver as I’m just not the same player or the same body shape.
“I may have fallen into the trap of that, especially last year, and that can get you down on confidence.
“Even comparing yourself to Charlie (Curnow) as key forward, we’re completely different players so all you can do is focus on what you can control and what your strengths are.
“(Caretaker coach) David Teague the last two weeks has really instilled that in us and that’s what I’ve been focusing on for the year.”
Weitering credits Amos and Blues fitness boss Andrew Russell in part for his 2019 transformation.
Amos said he has been thrilled by Weitering’s development and growing maturity around the club this year.
“He’s certainly developed some really good habits off field where his training intensity and level has really grown,” Amos said.
“He works really hard on his game and is now developed to a point where the last few weeks without Liam Jones in the team he’s been our No.1 key back taking the No.1 man down there.
“He’s still only a fourth year player with his career in its infancy, but he’s taking on more responsibility and more leadership and he’s certainly looking like a more accomplished AFL player now than he was early days I guess.”
WEITERING ON ...
THE EMERGING BLUES
“I am only 21, Marchy (Caleb Marchbank) is 22, Charlie (Curnow) is 21, Harry (McKay)’s 21, so we’re all pretty young in the scheme of things,” he said.
“But I think that year four group has really craved the challenge of competing against each other and on the ground.
“We’re definitely craving that challenge of being the best, because we’re here to win and compete and take this club forward.”
WHETHER HE'S A FOOTY HEAD
“I’ve probably had the two extremes. Before I was drafted I was a massive footy head and as soon as you get drafted it’s football, football, football,” he said.
“I went away from it a little bit but this year definitely I’ve gotten back into it a little bit, but I wouldn’t say I’m a footy head. Sam Docherty is a footy head, Crippa (Patrick Cripps) is probably a footy head.
“I try to keep a good balance away from football and try to get down to the peninsula a bit as that’s where I’m from.”
CARETAKER COACH DAVID TEAGUE
"Teaguey is a very relaxed individual and he's brought that in to the way into the way we move the ball and the way we play," he said.
"It wasn't working last week in the first quarter-and-a-half, but he just backed us to keep doing what we were doing as we weren't doing much wrong except not scoring.
"He certainly backs everyone's strengths individually.
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“I don’t think it’s difficult (mentally),” he said.
“Obviously we haven’t had a back-to-back win this year because it was only our second win, but the positivity around the group you can certainly see a difference.
"We're certainly enjoying each other's company."
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