Harper Sercombe
New Calder Cannons captain Damon Hollow says it’s an honour to be named skipper of the Coates Talent League side.
Hollow first made his under-18s Cannons debut in 2022 and was made a member of the club’s leadership group last year as a bottom aged player.
“It’s an honour to be captain of the team and it’s definitely something that I wanted to do this year,” he said.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while, now it’s just about being the best leader possible for the team.”
Hollow said he was first asked by his coaches if he would be interested in being a part of the leadership group again, before being offered the top position after a training session.
“I was a little bit shocked to be honest,” he said. “I was stoked to just be a part of that (leadership group).
Then they pulled me aside after training and said I was going to be captain.
“I was shocked but there was a bit of relief, it felt good.”
The 17-year-old played his junior football at Westmeadows in the Essendon District Football League and is currently aligned with Epping in the Northern Football League where his father Brad Hollow is senior coach.
He was a Vic Metro under-16 representative in 2022 and has also been an EDFL interleague representative during his junior career.
“Throughout local footy I’ve always been captain and then I had the opportunity to captain the futures team at the Cannons,” he said.
“I’m a very vocal leader, and I always love to help people and try not only myself but other people better for their footy.”
Hollow played 12 Talent League matches last season, averaging 16.6 disposals, 2.4 tackles and kicking 10 goals.
He was cut from the Vic Metro squad last year and he said making a return into the ‘big V’ jumper is one of his main goals for 2024.
“I want to enjoy myself and not put as much pressure on myself,” he said. “Last year I put a lot of pressure on myself and I didn’t enjoy it as much.”
“I’ve cleared my mindset and I’ve started to enjoy it a lot more and the form comes off that. I’m hoping to get a good start to the year and get invited to Vic Metro hopefully and go from there.
“As a team, I think if we stick to our structures and game plans and play as a team and not be selfish and think we can go very far and be very competitive.
“We’re all training pretty hard, getting the gains in and getting the kilometres up. We’re looking really fit at the moment and our game is improving every session.”
Making up the leadership group around Hollow is Jayden Nguyen and Isaac Kako as co-vice captains and Nash King, Kieran Gallagher and Hamish Bird as leadership group members.
“We’ve got some class in the leadership group, some good leaders and some good players as well,” he said.
The Cannons kick off their season on March 23 against the Sandringham Dragons at RSEA Park.
