Di Betta champing at bit
JASON Di Betta will line up for North Queensland against South Queensland today – as long as the luckless Hermit Park captain got through Friday the 13th unscathed.
The 26- year- old played in the first AFL Queensland representative clash in 2014, but an ACL in 2015 and a broken hand last year forced him to wait until today for another crack in the annual grudge match.
His misfortune means the small forward/ midfielder is jumping out of his skin before the clash at Aspley.
North Queensland won the first two instalments of the fixture, before South Queensland responded by claiming the trophy the past two years.
Di Betta will be joined by Hermit Park teammate Declan Wode and University Hawk Josh Cass in the side.
“This will be the tie- breaker, I guess. It’s very important to get bragging rights,” Di Betta said. “I was in the squad in 2015 before I did my knee, and in June last year I broke my hand just before the final side was announced, so it’s great to be back.
“Having three representatives from Townsville shows the sport’s going well here.
“The quality of football is always improving and absolutely I can see it growing in the next couple of years.”
Di Betta is confident they have the talent to prevent South Queensland from stretching their winning run to three. “They certainly have some good talent but I’ve been following the Cairns league pretty closely, they’ve got some tremendous players as well,” Di Betta said.
“It’s a bit of the unknown, but I’m really excited to see how they go.”
The showdown will take place after the Aspley v Southport NEAFL curtain raiser. In the AFL Townsville today Hermit Park hosts University at Neil French Oval and Thuringowa take on the Curra Swans at Riverway Stadium, with both matches starting at 3pm.