Watch Darren Jolly front the media at Gosch's Paddock
NEW COLLINGWOOD recruit Darren Jolly admits he feels a sense of expectation on his giant-sized shoulders after crossing from the Sydney Swans.
Jolly, 28, was among a host of stars to switch clubs during last month’s trade week, the ruckman joining the Magpies after deciding to return to Victoria for family reasons.
Collingwood gave up picks 14 and 56 at next week’s NAB AFL Draft in exchange for the 166-game veteran.
The ruck was seen as an area of weakness for Mick Malthouse’s team with Jolly believed vital in remedying that deficiency.
But despite coming off a career-best season, Jolly is intent on simply proving himself.
“I suppose I feel a little bit of pressure,” Jolly said from Gosch’s Paddock on Tuesday. “The club’s put a fair bit of faith into me [by] giving me a four-year deal.
“I’m not really paying much attention to it; I’m just trying to get out there and have a really good crack over pre-season and get to know everyone and get as fit and as strong as I can.
“Hopefully I’ll start playing well right from the start.”
Jolly, among the top big men in the competition, is almost certain to fill the No.1 ruck role at Collingwood.
But he says the club is yet to talk about who might fill what role, with the former Swan to enjoy support from Josh Fraser and Cameron Wood.
Malthouse has more often than not played one specialist ruckman from week to week but Jolly’s recruitment is likely to see that change.
If Jolly - who has carried much of the load throughout his career in Sydney - has a say in proceedings, he’d like the extra support of another ruckman.
“The way the game’s going at the moment and how quick it is, it’s pretty hard to ruck all over the whole game,” he said.
“Going into a game with two ruckmen … is beneficial for the club and for the player.
“I think playing 80 to 90 minutes was probably enough for me. I really enjoyed that [but] playing any longer I started to blow up in the last quarter.
“I’ll be sitting down with Mick and seeing what he wants to do.”
Jolly played 118 matches in five seasons at the Swans - including the 2005 premiership - and acknowledged shifting away from his teammates was tough.
But with two young children - and he and his wife’s parents in Victoria - the move made sense.
It was then simply a matter of which club.
“There was a couple [of clubs] but we probably really sat down with Collingwood first,” he said.
“They’re on the verge of winning a grand final, so it was more appealing for me to come here and to help out as much as I can.
“Obviously being at Sydney [which has been] a successful club I wanted to go to another successful club and Collingwood have been really close the last couple of years.
“The appealing thing is that they’re still quite a young list and I’ve heard fantastic things from Rhyce [Shaw] up in Sydney and nothing but good things about them.”
