A young key forward’s development is as much a mental battle as it is physical, and Western Bulldogs Development Coach Ashley Hansen says Ayce Cordy’s rising confidence is already paying dividends.
Cordy’s impact in the season opener extends further than his two goal haul, with his ability to create a contest and compete with the Lions’ mature defensive trio a small step in the emerging forward's development.
“He is really setting the bar high for himself and we want him to do that – because you have got to be going for everything with the upmost confidence and the mental thought process that ‘I am going to mark this’,” Hansen said.
“The evolution of Ayce is combining his athleticism with his physical presence.”
“Early on with that first goal of the game where he came back to the play, had a really good handball receive and then had the composure to finish – was a really good confidence booster for him to get himself into the game early and was a good reward.”
It was evident in the Bulldogs 68 point win that both Cordy and fellow forward Liam Jones were intent on proving their worth outside of kicking goals, by laying a number of tackles and providing affective blocks to create opportunities for their teammates.
“Ayce and Jonsey worked really well together to create space and also block for each other,” he said.
“One of the best marks he takes, he actually went to block for Jonesy first and then got on the end of it.
“It’s a great learning curve for him that if you are doing the team things, the individual rewards will come as well.”
The 22-year-old is realistic about his rate of development and while convinced he has the attributes to succeed at senior level, Cordy believes consistency will be his biggest battle as he finds his feet.
“I know I am good enough to play at this level it’s just a matter of showing it week in and week out and that is one of the things I struggle with most would be consistency,” Cordy said.
“That is something I need to get rid of and that is something I hopefully will get rid of with more games of footy.
