Team's effort lifting sneaky Peake

Brett Peake may share top spot on the WAFL’s goalkicking leaderboard through round 8, but the Bernie Naylor Medal couldn’t have been further from his mind when chatting after Tuesday night’s training session at ATOM Stadium.

Instead, Peake is settling back into the grind after a year away from WAFL footy, and he sees his 22 majors so far -- as well as the Sharks recent run of form, as a sign of the team’s collective effort over any individual performance.

“In the later part of my career I’ve moved up forward, and that’s where the coaching staff want me, so I’m more than happy to be playing my role for the team,” said Peake.

“It’s kinda funny, because footy is never really about the individual accolades, especially as you get older -- and I’m not noted for being a goal kicker. Goals are a bonus, but you can’t get them without the supply from the midfield. At the moment the team’s doing a great job of getting the ball inside fifty and if I play my role for the team then as a collective we’re doing our job of kicking winning scores.”

The presence of the big marking Matthew Watson is also benefiting the smaller bodies up front, with Watson’s persistent leading game causing headaches for the defenders and creating plenty of space for Peake to work his magic.

After watching Peake’s three goal effort in last week’s win over Perth, you could understand why the former Docker and Saints player values his team’s contribution. All three of Peake’s goals came from gift opportunities well inside the goalsquare, taking his new role as a goal sneak to the extreme.

“I didn’t notice at the time,” said Peake about the similarity between his three goals.

“Now I look back on it, I think I was kicking them legitimately from the goal line, and I suppose that’s pretty funny as you’ll take them, but it was just how it was, and I was in the right position at the right time.”

Peake’s first goal of the day provided one of the highlights of the second quarter, quickly intercepting a handpass and roosting the ball over the southern stand in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it play.

“I got front and centre to the contest, and I was running through and it was just timing -- they wouldn’t have known I was coming,” said Peak of the goal.

“I was tearing through and I put my hand out and it stuck with me running into an open goal. They’re gifts, you don’t normally get them as you have to work pretty hard to get a shot, and when you do you’ve got to make it count, so I’ll take them any day.”

With a 5-3 record the Sharks sit in outright third with plenty of confidence and riding a three game winning streak. It seems a long way from last season where the longest streaks were on the losing side of the coin.

The commentary around the side has similarly changed -- and many have credited coach Rob Wiley for the club’s upward trend from finals dreamers to contenders. As someone on the inside, Peake agrees with the sentiment but stressed that the playing group still has a lot of work to do.

“Rob’s come in and implemented a lot -- from training to drills and how we want to play, to playing as a team in a team environment,” said Peake.

“Now it’s up to us as a playing group to go out and do that. We’re gradually getting better, but we’re still a long way off. Wins are always good, and you need wins at the end of the day to get to where you want.

“We’re building but we’re certainly nowhere near where we want to be. We have taken big steps forward -- with me not being here for a year I’ve seen a massive change. I’d like to think that the club’s heading in the right direction and obviously time will show.”

One big test to that direction comes this weekend against Claremont at the Showgrounds. The Shark’s losses to Peel and South Fremantle earlier this season could have gone either way, but Claremont’s 39 point win in mid-April represents East Fremantle’s biggest loss of the season as they trailed from start to finish.

“Looking at the ladder they might only have two wins but Claremont have shown they’re a good side,” said Peake.

“They stitched us up in pre-season and in Round 5. They’re a young team, they’re hungry and we’ve now got to go and play them at the Showgrounds. It’s just another challenge in the year that we have to step up and go out and play.”

“The boys should embrace it as you want to play the best teams, and this is another step up and we’re looking forward to facing it, and whatever gets thrown at us we’re training to overcome that.”