Last year, Vince’s impressive form was somewhat overshadowed by an off-field indiscretion which saw the 21-year-old suspended from football for a week when he turned himself in after breaking curfew by 20 minutes.
The clever forward was determined to make amends for his error in judgement and did so the best way he knew how - through some individually brilliant performances with the Eagles.
Vince, who missed more than 10 SANFL games through injury and Crows commitments, was rewarded for his consistency with a fourth placing in the Woodville-West Torrens best and fairest.
Now, after an impressive start to the pre-season, Vince is determined to take the club’s trust in him to another level.
“My goal is to play in the midfield and that’s why this pre-season is so important,” he said.
“I need to establish a stronger fitness base and get the trust from the coaches, so that they can put me in the middle and know I’m not going to be lagging.
“I’ve played in the midfield for most of my life, but if it happens to fall differently and I can’t get into the midfield - I’m just happy to be out there anywhere.”
This year, unlike last year when he spent the first few weeks of summer recuperating from knee surgery, Vince was able to join his teammates for training on day one.
The former district cricketer has even managed to fit in a few overs on the weekends, playing alongside his dad and old teammates back home in Stansbury on the Yorke Peninsula.
“Training has been pretty good actually and I haven’t really missed a session yet. I missed one or two early on because of a hamstring injury during the off-season, but it’s been good to be out there the whole time.”
The laidback country lad played six games straight with Adelaide last season, but was squeezed out of the side when several senior players returned from injury.
“I went back to the SANFL and missed a few weeks after having a bit of cartilage taken out of my knee, so it was hard to get back into the [Crows] side,” Vince said.
“Towards the end of the season in the SANFL I really built up some good form and I was pretty happy with the way I finished.”
Vince, who will wear the number 17 for both Adelaide and Woodville-West Torrens next year, is committed to doing “everything right” next year to secure a place in the Crows line-up.
He’ll also have some strong guidance near-by in the form of housemate Nathan van Berlo and new mentor and skipper Simon Goodwin.
“Goody and I sat down and set out some goals both short-term and long-term,” Vince said.
“Basically, the short-term goal for the pre-season is to make sure I get my body right and get the three-km goal time set for me, which is 10.15. I hadn’t run the three-km time trial in about a year and before Christmas I ran a 10:40, so hopefully I can shave some more time off that.
“The long-term goals for next season are just to make sure I’m doing everything right and putting myself on the line, so I can put my hand up for selection every week.”
The jovial Vince is serious when he says he’s learned from the mistakes of 2007.
“You just don’t realise the effect your actions [like breaking curfew] have on, not only yourself, but other people too,” he said.
“At the time I didn’t really think about that impact, but when I went home [Stansbury] and even when I go home now, people still ask me about it. It just affects so many more people than you realise like your teammates, family and friends.
“It’s definitely a path I won’t be going down again.”
