On the Page success

BERWICK started the season off on the right foot last weekend and among the best players on the day was 17-year-old playmaker Nathan Page.
Nathan, who was elevated into the senior side late last year, has continued to develop and is the first player nominated for the 2009 Gazette Young Gun award.
A talented on-baller, Nathan played most of his junior football from under-nines at Pakenham, winning best-and-fairest awards in the under-11s and under-12s, before transferring to Berwick at under-15 level to continue playing with a group of good mates already at the club.
He had immediate success at Berwick, playing in an under-15 premiership and steadily progressed to be elevated to the club’s under-18 side last year, where he was runner-up in the best and fairest, despite missing several games.
He played the last three games in the Wickers senior side and made enough of an impression that he was invited to train with the Gippsland Power TAC Cup squad over summer and just missed the cut.
“I was told I wasn’t quite tall enough and got cut after the last practice match. There are a lot of boys around my height and you just have to be a freak athlete to get on the final list,” he said. He returned to Berwick and has made an immediate impact as a fast-running wingman-forward, impressing new coach Glenn Dale and his match committee with his football sense.
Nathan nominated his grandfather Leon ‘Curls’ Eyre and his father Mick as the biggest influence on his football development, while he added that last year’s Berwick coach Daniel Charles and 2008 MPNFL interleague coach Daniel Watts had also been major factors in his recent progress.
“Charlesy gave me my first chance to play senior football and supported me and I also really enjoyed last year’s interleague series under Dan (Watts)”
Nathan said that he was excited at the prospects of the new-look Berwick side this year and was keen to make a name as a senior player before maybe looking to a higher level in the future.
“I might try giving the VFL a crack in the future, but at the moment I’m just loving playing at Berwick,” he said.