Saints get most out of Farren Ray

With this season marking his seventh year of AFL football,
St Kilda’s Farren Ray certainly seems to have found his place within the strong Saints midfield. Starting his career on the other side of the Westgate Bridge at the Western Bulldogs, Ray’s game-style has taken a refreshing development at Moorabbin that saw him play every game in his first season as a Saint.

“Moving to a different Club revives you. Ross (Lyon) has an amazing ability to get the most out of me and he has let me run on the wing and has given me the license to fulfill my role.”

“Personally I have very high expectations of myself and my first year at the Saints was obviously my sixth year in the AFL."

Making the decision to move Clubs was not one that came easily to Farren, but at the end of 2008 he was able to speak to the Bulldogs about his future and in that same year was traded to the Saints for Jarred Roughead.

Farren was overseas when the papers were signed, but he knew he was ready for a change and was able to bring to the Saints his maturity and game knowledge;

“I went to the Bulldogs as a 17 year old and I came to the Saints as 22 year old, so that is a lot different.”

Ensuring he has a strong relationship with his personal coach is something Farren believes is extremely important, along with the opportunity to play alongside other experienced and skillful midfielders.

“I’ve always had a great rapport with my midfield coach and it is something I am very happy with. Tony Elshaug has been great to me since moving to the Club.”

“When you play in the midfield with players like (Nick) Dal Santo, (Lenny) Hayes, (Leigh) Montagna, you are constantly developing your game. They are the best players in the competition and they demand the most from you.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s match, Farren is not surprised by Fremantle’s successful start to the season due to their youthful side.

“They’ve got a lot of young guys having a crack and we’ll have to be on as a team to beat them.”

“Everyone’s going to have to step up, but there is no reason why we can’t.”

It is going to be another year of new experiences for Farren, who moved to Melbourne from Perth back in 2003. Now proven his ability in the Saints side, he is not allowing complacency to get the better of him.

“My main goal in the pre-season was just to do everything, that’s my goal each year. I did all the pre-season so obviously I had the confidence coming into the season proper and the first couple of rounds I’ve felt pretty good.”

To see Farren and the boys take on Fremantle this weekend make sure you get down to Etihad Stadium for Sunday afternoon’s twilight game, starting at 4:40pm. For ticket details please click here.

To help the Club reach our major goal of 40,000 members for the 2010 season call 1300 GO SAINTS or click here and follow the links.