Sport
3 August, 2024
Nhill's Xavier Bone is all about the team as he eyes a finals berth
The 18-year-old has kicked over a goal per game in the 2024 season.
Football
Nhill
Self-confessed as 'football mad", Nhill forward Xavier Bone is relishing playing senior football.
Now in his third season with the Tigers' seniors squad, the 18-year-old believes his hard work is paying dividends.
"The first three or four games, it takes a little bit getting used to it; just the bigger blokes for your first bumps and you get knocked around," Bone said.
"I felt like its made a big impact [the exposure from a younger age], you're a lot more used to it and having some really good people around the club [helps].
"We've got Jake [McQueen as senior coach] this year, and my Dad [Tim] is still heavily involved with the club."
Bone credited the work of McQueen and what he's added in 2024.
"What Jake's brought to the group has been really energetic, really fun, and enjoyable," he said.
"I've found that as the year has gone on, training has been even more enjoyable.
"The vibe around the group's been great. I feel like that's been shown in not only my football but everyone's football.
"I've found the last few weeks, we've really sort of gotten better with our zoning [in defence] and that system that Jake's running."
Looking at his own game, Bone is focused on doing the one percenters that benefit the team.
In 12 matches during the 2024 WFNL season, Bone has kicked 13 goals and has been named the best on three occasions.
"You can have as many accolades individually as you want, but as long as we're having success as a team, it doesn't matter on my front," he said.
"When my pressure acts are up, and I'm doing that [and] tackling, I know I'm playing good football.
"At the end of the day, whether I'm kicking the goals or setting them up for my teammates, it doesn't matter."
Looking at the remainder of the season, Bone looks to continue to improve.
From a team perspective, he would love to play in a finals series.
"Keep building and playing our enjoyable, energetic style [with] run, hard football, and doing our blue-collar stuff that we speak really highly about pre-game," Bone said.
I'd love to play finals and have a deep run come finals time... That's the thing that I hope the most for."