Western Bulldogs rookie Robbie McComb is pinching himself at the opportunity of playing senior football.
Picked up via the Footscray VFL pathway with selection 23 in last year’s rookie draft, McComb produced an impressive display in just his second game at AFL level, registering 21 touches and two goals in the 32-point win over Essendon.
“I’m just playing my role – we’ve got so many gun players in key positions, so it’s about coming in and not trying to do too much or anything you don’t have to do,” McComb told SEN 1116.
“(The win) was obviously really important – we hadn’t been playing our best footy and haven’t been doing the things we wanted to do.
“Some things we’d been working on came out on the weekend which was good to see – hopefully it takes us forward and we can play some better footy.”
At 26 years old, McComb admits the dream of playing AFL started to fade at times, but credited his love and passion for the game as a motivator to not lose hope.
“I just kept working at it – it was always on my mind that I wanted to play AFL, so I just worked as hard as I could to try and make it happen. I’m glad I did.
“It’s really hard, obviously not knowing when or if you’ll even get the chance, but I guess you just have to do whatever you can just in case it happens.
“I suppose a lot of people fall off through their 20s, but I just loved playing footy so much. I loved training and playing footy on the weekends, that it sort of just happened.”
The Bulldogs will travel to South Australia to take on Port Adelaide in a Friday night blockbuster at Adelaide Oval.
