A DEBUT year with the club ruined by pure bad luck is the fuel motivating Jeremy Sykes to help spearhead Coolamon's revival this year.
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The midfielder-forward was one of the bigger names to change clubs in 2021, shifting to the Hoppers after a stint as co-coach at Turvey Park.
However a knee injury, plus a serious bout of blood poisoning which kept his hospitalised for several days, limited him to just six games.
Even when he played he was nowhere near his best physically, but Sykes has focused on making up for lost time.
The Hoppers haven't attracted as much hype as unbeaten Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong and big improvers Collingullie-Glenfield Park this year, but still sit 6-1 before they take on the Demons at Crossroads Oval next weekend.
"I didn't really get the opportunity to show the club or the community what I can do," Sykes said.
"That gives you a bit more fire to show them why they wanted me in the first place.
"I've got a good pre season into me and I haven't had the problems I had last year.
"At the end of last year (coming back after illness) I was more confident in my mind than the body, I wasn't playing anywhere near to the level I thought I could."
This season has been a totally different story. Sykes has been named in Coolamon's best four times in seven games, including the last three, and is almost a new recruit for them this season.
The signing of quality midfielders Allister Clarke and Shae Darcy from the Sydney and Canberra leagues has allowed him to spend plenty of time forward, as well as Jeremy Maslin.
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"Last year I was playing more forward than midfield, but this year we've picked up a couple of handy inside mids," Sykes said.
"But we've had injuries, including Baz (co-coach Jake Barrett) who was out for two or three weeks, so I was thrown back into the midfield and found a bit of form.
"With myself and Jerry (Maslin) it's a 70-30 (midfield and forward) swap, and he's having just as big an impact when he's going forward."
Two big wins over Griffith (87 points) and Leeton-Whitton (122) has allowed Coolamon to boost its percentage to 172, just behind fellow 6-1 side Collingullie-Glenfield Park (180) before next Saturday's blockbuster.
Clarke is tipped to return after missing about a month with a quad injury, while fellow midfielder Hayden Bradley is on track to return from a groin.
Sykes is happy for the team to fly slightly more under the radar this year, admitting talk they were the team to beat last year affected them.
They ground out a couple of ugly wins against Wagga Tigers and MCUE in consecutive weeks, but have started to hit their straps since with a more constant team line-up.
"It's nice to stay under the radar. Last year there was a bit of talk around us, and we got a bit taken away with that," Sykes said.
"Obviously you want to be known as one of the contenders, but when there's consistent talk around you eventually start to think it's just going to happen without hard work.
"Griffith and Leeton are rebuilding, but when we've played those sides we haven't stamped any authority on them the last couple of seasons. It was good to really put the foot on the throat and build some percentage."
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