Harry Brereton has been told there is nothing quite like running out at North Hobart Oval, with the Tasmania Devils forward set to experience the atmosphere for himself when the club hosts Werribee today.
Brereton said teammates have told him the energy from the crowd is something special.
“I spoke to some of the boys and just the adrenaline that goes through them, yeah, is unreal,” he said.
“They said it’s, yeah, like being an AFL team, basically, they reckon.”
The young forward is returning from two shoulder surgeries and said he is grateful to be back on the park.
“Two shoulder surgeries is definitely obviously frustrating, but I suppose I’m just grateful that it is an injury you can come back from,” he said.
“There’s obviously a lot of injuries that unfortunately some people don’t get to play footy again, so I’m lucky that my injury is not too bad really in that sense.”
Growing up with two older brothers helped toughen him up, he said and he does not hold back when it comes to contact.
“They definitely treated me a bit harder growing up in the backyard playing footy with them,” he said.
Brereton also has a family connection to the Devils program, with his father playing the first four VFL games for Tasmania before stepping away.
His uncle also played for the club.
“He obviously would have got stuck into me if I didn’t get a game, I reckon,” Brereton said.
Patrick Walker will make his VFL debut on Saturday after overcoming his own injury setbacks, with Brereton describing him as “a really good user with the ball.”
Nelson Beikoff-Smart will miss the match with a hamstring injury.
Tasmania sits sixth on the ladder and a win against second-placed Werribee would go a long way towards securing a historic finals berth in the club’s first season.
The men will take on second-placed Werribee from 11:05am before the women face Carlton from 2:35pm, with the club celebrating Member Appreciation Round.
