John Spencer has kicked 17 goals in his first two games back at Brock-Burrum

Having rejoined Brock-Burrum from North Wangaratta, the 30-year-old's major focus during March was trying to win a flag for Albury Cricket Club.

Spencer was out in the middle for the dying stages of the grand final, just over two weeks ago, when they fell to North Albury in a thriller.

Days later, he was preparing for round one of the Hume league with Saints coach Peter Cook breaking the news Spencer would start the season in reserves.

But when COVID struck, opportunity knocked and Spencer answered by kicking five goals against Billabong Crows before bagging a career-high 12 in Saturday's win over the Murray Magpies.

"It was strange going straight from losing a grand final to Thursday night training and then playing football on Saturday for points," Spencer said.

"It was hard to get to football training, the last month before the season, because I'd bought into cricket so that was the priority.

"I was still trying to come down off the grand final and decompress from that.

"You build yourself up for it and then on Thursday I'm driving out to Burrumbuttock to play football on Saturday."

Spencer's goal-kicking prowess was never in doubt but Cook wanted to send the right message.

"As a club, the direction we're heading in, we want blokes to buy in," he said.

"I said to Johnny 'if I'm trying to set a precedent for training throughout the year, we need to play you in the twos for the first week or two and get you in after Easter.'

"He wanted to play seniors, of course, but he understood and he was on board.

"For him to take that on the chin before round one and to then come in and kick 17 goals, it's a different mindset.

"If you'd asked Johnny five or six years ago, he may not have been too happy but now he's got his beautiful young family and he wants to win a flag so he knows what's required."

Spencer's three-year-old son Freddie loves coming to training while Lola, six, makes the most of Dad when he's around on Sunday.

"Balancing everything is getting tougher the older I get," Spencer admitted.

"But I do my best to keep everyone happy and the kids love sport, which makes it easier.

"They've been going to cricket or football on a Saturday their whole lives.

"It's nice I can start to involve Fred a bit more now because he loves it."

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Spencer, who also had spells at Wodonga Raiders, Holbrook and Rutherglen, can't wait to see what 2022 has in store for the Saints.

"I reckon we'll be under-rated a little bit," he said.

"But internally, we're confident we can go deep into September.

"The first couple of weeks have shown Osborne are still the standout but everyone else is pretty close.

"COVID was a breath of fresh air for me.

"I'd played from four to 28 without a break and I was burnt out, nearly ready to pull the pin.

"But I appreciate it more now and I'm confident in my ability and where we can go as a team this year."

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