Talented Tiger small defender Jayden Short provides ‘Roar Vision’ with an assessment of the team’s, and his own, 2018 season.

The Tiger Army

“It’s pretty unbelievable . . . first team to 100,000 members. You can sure tell we had that many members. It felt like there was that many at the game each week. So thanks for all the support. We love it and it really helps us on game day.”

Driven to succeed in 2018

“I missed out last year, so there was a bit of drive in me to try and get myself in the team this year . . . I obviously had something to work for because I did miss out. I had a shoulder reconstruction at the end of last season (2017) and that put me back a little bit. I knew there was hard work ahead and set my sights on getting myself in the team and staying in the team for as long as I can. I ended up playing every game and that’s good, but there’s certainly some more room for improvement.”

Reaching the 50-game milestone in Round 19

“It’s a pretty cool effort . . . You think back to your first game . . . and then to play your 50th is obviously just as cool. But certainly hoping there’s a few more 50s to add to this.” 

Individual season appraisal

“I think it was an improvement on last year. I played to my strengths as well as I could. And getting out there, having a lot of fun, and enjoying myself as much as I can, was probably the key . . . the coaches have been big on that. Just looking to improve again next year . . . Hopefully show some more of my skills and get a lot better.”

No.1 player in the competition for metres gained

“Obviously I like kicking the ball and a lot of my kicks are usually long. I haven’t got great vision for in close, I’m always looking far. So that’s probably something I can work on as well. But that’s just a stat that happens and you don’t really take too much notice of that. I want to use the ball as best as I can . . . So I just look to do as much as I can with the ball . . .”

Individual areas of improvement

“Probably just my overall game in general. There’s obviously room for improvement in every area of my game and I’ll look to work on that in the off-season. Basically, my whole game can go to another level, and I’m looking to do that.”