Man of moment backing his mates

BROTHERS halfback Gabriel Tognolini was the hero last weekend but hopes it doesn’t have to come to that against Yarrabah this time around.

The No.7 slotted a field goal from close to 20m out to sink Ivanhoes in the elimination final, but said with a bit of improvement they could have it done by the 80th.

“Hopefully we play a lot better second half this weekend and complete our sets and get down their end and I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Tognolini said. “If it does, I’ll do my best again.

“It was a fluke, a heat of the moment thing. I wasn’t even thinking drop goal when the ball came to me.”

The man of the moment had returned to the paddock after a season away from the game. A bench hooker at the start of the season, he was thrust into the halves after the departure of Nathan Kepa and has made every post a winner to be in contention for the CDRL Gold Medal.

While Tognolini said being considered for A-grade player of the year for 2017 was a surprise itself, being in the top 11 alongside his halves partner Evan Child – the two have developed into one of the most dangerous pairings in the competition – was even more surprising.

“I knew I was playing consistent footy but didn’t think I’d be up there for that,” he said. “It’s good to be noticed

“We’re both sharing points up there. Evan’s been playing some good footy as well and we’ve just worked off each other all year.

“The boys are just really close and we get along really well and weekends we try to do as much as we can together as well as training and game day, so we’re just a real close bunch of mates.”