Footscray Bulldogs’ Billy Crofts wasn’t sure if he was going to play in the Victorian Football League this year.
After battling some injuries the past few years, Crofts had struggled to play as well as he would have liked and saw him move between VFL and local footy.
He decided to give it one last go this season with Footscray Bulldogs as he also returned to his junior club Melton as his local club.
Crofts was named in round one for the Bulldogs and didn’t let go of his spot in the team.
He was named in the VFL team of the year squad and earned himself a premiership medal.
Crofts then capped it off with the Bulldogs best and fairest award.
“It’s been a pretty hectic couple of weeks,” he said. “The grand final is still sinking in and that happened [the best and fairest] as well.
“There were three of us who got picked in the team of the year squad and thought it would probably be us three.
“When they got called out third and second I thought I would be a good chance, and it ended up happening.”
Crofts said the achievement of winning the best and fairest was made even more special considering he struggled to lock down a spot the past couple of years.
He decided to give himself one last crack at VFL.
“I thought I owed it to myself to at least give myself a clean run at it,” he said. “I’m glad that I did.
“This year I was in from the start and I stayed there and put in a body of work and stayed in there for every game.”
Speaking with the coaches in the off season, they wanted to add to his inside game and get more of the ball on the outside.
The other big thing for Crofts was getting his body right.
“I had a bit of a different approach to pre-season,” he said. “I went up to Darwin instead of pre-season before Christmas and kept playing games.
“We spoke about it, that I kept getting injured around that Christmas period, when it was really starting to ramp up.
“I was able to work on the thing that they told me to work on and as a result my body held up as well.”
Crofts said much of the grand final was still a blur for him. He kicked a couple of goals and was one of Bulldogs best.
After a strong season and finals series, Crofts has shown he can make it with the best and put himself on the radar of AFL clubs.
“It’s such a big deal playing well in grand finals,” he said.
“Some guys get drafted on the back of good grand final performances alone. But once in the game, I’m not thinking about my own individual performance.
“It gives me confidence with some good games against some of the best teams. But I’m realistic, I am 27, it’s now or never.”
Crofts played just one game for Melton in his return to the club due to the VFL commitments.
He said Bloods coach Troy Scoble was someone who had always been in his corner.
He’s had a massive impact,” he said. “He’s the person who got me to Geelong [VFL] initially, he was there coached me at Western Jets at under-18s
“He’s one that has believed in me from the start
“It helps going back there, being around all my mates.
Croft will have a well earned break over the off season.
