West Coast midfielder Tim Kelly has played down his new ‘Trim Tim’ tag, saying his weight loss from last year is only marginal.
Kelly made a stunning start to the AFL season with a 28-disposal, five-clearance effort in Sunday’s 25-point win over Gold Coast.
He also had nine inside 50s and numerous score involvements.
The hot display was even more remarkable given that Kelly missed both of the club’s pre-season games due to a thumb injury.
After Sunday’s match, Kelly was praised by media commentators for looking fitter, even earning the tag ‘Trim Tim’.
Kelly saw the nickname floating about, but said he wasn’t all too different from last year’s weight.
“To be honest, I don’t think it’s a massive factor,” Kelly told reporters on Monday.
“I’m a little lighter compared to what I was last year, with that it just gets back to longer games and being able to run it out for four quarters.
“I’ve taken a bit of a smarter approach to this year. Personally I had a little bit of doubt going in, it was a bit of an unusual walk into round one for myself.
“I’m quite used to playing a couple of pre-season matches and I didn’t get that this year with my thumb.
“The thumb felt good and to be honest, I haven’t really lost too much weight, I just look a bit better than I did last year.”
Kelly’s contribution against Gold Coast was important given that West Coast were without gun midfielders Luke Shuey and Elliot Yeo.
The Eagles will be aiming to make it two wins on the trot when they take on the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.