Thunder and Gillam looking for strong finishThursday, July 18, 2013 - 12:48 PM - by Chris Pike

PEEL Thunder is looking to finish an up and down 2013 season on a strong note over the final six matches with midfielder Brennan Gillam also keen to build some momentum personally to cement his spot heading into 2014.

Peel has lost its last five WAFL matches after some encouraging form between Rounds 6 and 10 where the Thunder won three of five games with the two losses only narrow affairs against Claremont and South Fremantle.

However, Peel has been down on numbers in recent weeks particularly during heavy losses to Claremont, Perth and East Perth before a much more encouraging performance prior to last weekend's bye where the Thunder stormed home before losing at home to West Perth by 16 points.

Peel now finishes its season starting this Saturday at home at Bendigo Bank Stadium before matches against Swan Districts, West Perth, Swans again, South Fremantle and Subiaco.

Even though Jarrhan Jacky, James Bristow, Jayden Pitt, Drew Robinson, Jamason Daniels, Chris Luff and Pat Travers are among the players unavailable for the rest of the season, Peel remains confident of performing well with some Fremantle-listed players back plus Kristin Thornton and Cruize Garlett on the verge of returning from injury.

Gillam has been one player to come into the Peel side over the last seven matches after a limited pre-season and is confident along with the rest of his teammates that they can finish the season off strongly from here.

"We are really looking forward to the last six weeks," Gillam said.

"The last month or so has been really disappointing so I think the boys have a fair bit to play for over the last six weeks and we want to show the competition that we have come a long way although the results don’t show that at the moment.

"We feel that as a group we are getting a lot better and we see this six weeks as a real chance to do that."

Cameron Shepherd is in his first season as senior coach at Peel Thunder as well and the 22-year-old Gillam has enjoyed playing under him so far.

"Shep has been really good for us young guys and given us an opportunity, and rewarded us for good form in the reserves and I think he has a bright future going forward with the club," he said.

"Cam is really approachable and all the boys see him as someone they can go and talk to, and see what they need to improve on or where they are sitting in terms of getting a game or not getting a game.

"He is a lot different to the previous couple of coaches we've had and I am really taking a liking to him, and I think all the other boys are as well."

Peel captain Brendon Jones continues to lead from the front as well. Even though he has now played 172 WAFL games, Jones continues to be one of the hardest working midfielders in the competition and is again averaging almost 25 possessions a game this season.

He is someone that Gillam can't help but look up to.

"He is someone that all us young fellas really look up to. He puts his heart and soul into it every week, and he's amongst our best players most weeks," he said.

"He is someone who personally I really look up to and to see what he's achieved over his career is really good."

Gillam himself is a hard running midfielder who can also play across half-back or half-forward or the wing, and is a proven ball-winner again already averaging over 21 possessions a game since breaking back into the league side in Round 9 this season.

He made his league debut back in 2010 with six games that season, nine in 2011 and four in 2012 but he's hoping now that his body stays sound and he can cement a regular spot in the line-up.

"I'm just happy to string a few games together. I didn’t have much of a pre-season, so I had to bide my time in the ressies for a few weeks and now I'm back in the league side now. Hopefully I can stay there for a few more weeks now and we can win a few more games as well," Gillam said.

"At the moment I am just happy to be playing footy. At the end of last year I broke my ankle and wasn’t sure how many games I was going to get in this year so I'm just happy to be back and at the moment I'm starting to build a little bit of form in the league side.

"Hopefully I can stay in there over the last six games of the season and as a side we can win a few games, and build some momentum going into next year."