BOMBERS’ X-FACTOR
Gun recruit could help Lauderdale make history
LAUDERDALE’S prized mid-season addition Jacob Gillbee could be the Xfactor the Bombers need in the State League finals as the club chases history in the coming weeks.
No team has reached the grand final — let alone won the premiership — from outside the top three, but the fifth-placed Bombers sent a message they were clicking into gear on Saturday with a 58-point mauling of Clarence at Blundstone Arena.
While the wounded Roos were staggering towards their exit with a mounting injury toll, it was hard not to be impressed by the firepower Lauderdale has assembled at the back end of the year.
And the wildcard could be Gillbee, the former Gold Coast Sun who returned to his junior club in April.
The 25-year-old booted 5.4 in the elimination final.
And while by his own admission he is still nowhere near peak fitness having missed the pre-season, he is regaining the touch that saw the Suns draft him with pick 49 in 2010. Gillbee leads the Bombers’ goalkicking with 31 from 14 games and has added another dimension to a forward line containing electric crumbers Tim Mosquito (23 goals) and Henry Kerinaiua (18), Thor Boscott (17 from seven games), tall Alex Hill (17) and the versatile Ryan Wiggins (17).
“It has been pretty difficult this year not doing a pre-season and I haven’t really done too much for 18 months. I’m slowly now getting it back,” Gillbee said.
“Now I’ve played a few games this year, I am starting to get my touch back a little bit but still lacking a few things.”
After being delisted by the Suns following six AFL games, Gillbee had a stint in South Australia playing at various levels, including with Central District in the SANFL. It’s been a long road back to enjoying his football again, but the carpenter is relishing playing without too much expectation.
“I lived and breathed footy as a kid growing up … once you get there and get the news your career has been ended, it is pretty heartbreaking,” he said.
“I still love the game, but I don’t have that passion like I once did but I love seeing the young kids at the club have that aspiration I did when I was coming through. To mentor them and give them a bit of guidance is the more satisfying thing for me now.”
Lauderdale coach Darren Winter believes the scary factor for opposition sides is that Gillbee still has plenty of room to improve. “We haven’t seen the best of Jake. Obviously he wasn’t going to play, so he didn’t do a pre-season.
“He hits the ball like a man. If he is under it, he stays under it. If he has to put his head over it, he puts his head over it, and he can still take those marks.
“You don’t get to play AFL footy if you can’t play, he is a good one for us.”
Lauderdale meets Launceston in this weekend’s first semi-final.
TSL finals week-two schedule: Saturday at UTas Stadium: Second semifinal, North Launceston v Glenorchy, 3.30pm. First semi-final: Launceston v Lauderdale, 6.30pm.