According to Jared Brennan, the Gold Coast utility is “always on notice” at the Suns due to his brilliantly unorthodox ways.
But it seems that has not made his current situation at the AFL battlers any easier to handle.
Brennan was one of the few shining lights in the Suns’ last round 95-point thumping at the hands of St Kilda – the Gold Coast’s 18th straight defeat.
Yet Brennan cut a forlorn figure on Wednesday.
He not only seemed frustrated by his role at the Suns but also the fact that he couldn’t reveal exactly why he had recently spent a surprise three-week stint in the reserves to refine it.
“I will probably keep that in-house. I will just say they were defensive parts of my game (to be worked on),” he said.
Asked if he was a victim of his own versatility, Brennan said: “I don’t want to appear that I am whinging so I will say no.
“That is the role (utility) I have played over a long period of time so maybe I am a victim of that.
“I have just got to suck it up and get used to it.”
Coach Guy McKenna made the surprising admission that he would ask Suns players after each match if Brennan had earned another AFL game when he finally pulled the utility out of the reserves ahead of the Saints clash.
Asked if he felt like he was on notice at the club, Brennan smiled: “I think the way I have played my whole career I have always been on notice.
“It is really an unorthodox way of playing.”
No wonder Brennan – a man who can turn a match with a flash of brilliance – appeared to be wrestling with the new predictable role demanded of him by McKenna.
“It is definitely hard but it is the best thing for the team,” he said diplomatically.
“I have to change, do more team things, play more predictable to my teammates.
“That’s the challenge and I have to face it.”
Usually an honest soul, Brennan sounded more like a tortured one as he reflected on his reserves stint that ensured he missed the Western Bulldogs clash at his hometown Darwin.
“I thought my form wasn’t so bad when I got dropped,” he said.
“It would have been easy to see it as a kick in the guts and say ‘poor me’ but I couldn’t look at it that way.
“I had to talk to people who are close to me about certain things, adjust and rectify them.”
