Nofi dependable for Drysdale

TEVAN Nofi had slipped under the radar. Until now.

Featuring in the best in four of his seven matches for Drysdale, the second-year defender has emerged as one of the most reliable players in the competition.

“He’s one of the best players I’ve seen at the local level, to be honest,” Hawks’ co-coach Daniel Jull said.

“He’s got really good hands and there’s not too many times when he gets out-marked in a contest.

“(On Saturday) he took his game to another level and his follow up work on the ground was really influential.

“He’s been playing some really good footy and hopefully he can continue to play the way he’s been playing in the second half of the season.”

Making the move from Leopold’s colts, Nofi played 12 senior games in his maiden season with Drysdale and has played seven of the first nine games in 2019.

“He missed a couple of weeks with injury, but he’s played the last six games, so he’s starting to get a bit of continuity,” Jull said of Nofi.

“He’s a pretty impressive player. He’s one of those guys that you’d go to the footy to watch, I reckon. If you went down to see him you’d think ‘This guy can play’.

“He came down with a few mates from Leopold and we didn’t know much about him. Then he played the whole season in the seniors and he was really good for us last year.

“It took us by surprise and probably some of the opposition by surprise. He has continued to improve and he’s taken his game to another level this year.”