Coach’s blessing to hate the Blues
EDDIE Hampson, Luke Jack and Tom Duffy may have bled blue during their school days at Ignatius Park but their former coach has given his blessing for them to hate the colour for one night only: their Queensland Origin debuts.
The trio will run out on hostile territory on Thursday night to take on the Blues under-19s for the first time in their footballing careers.
“Even though blue has been their school colour all their life, it will become the enemy on Thursday night,” coach Steve Lansley said.
“They will hate blue.”
The veteran Iggy Park coach will let it slide for the night, such is his pride in the accomplishments of his recent graduates.
Duffy and Jack were the team’s leaders just last season but it is the achievement of 2020 centre Hampson that has most impressed his former mentor.
“We had him as a centre in the 2019 team that won Confraternity, and we always thought he was a good player, but we were probably surprised at his progress in the last couple of years,” Lansley said.
“A starting second row for the Queensland under-19s, he’s definitely come a long way since school.”
Hampson’s strength as a ball carrier had always been a feature of his centre play but the damaging hole runner Queensland will unleash on the Blues has blossomed since graduating in 2020.
Lansley described Hampson as a classic late bloomer.
“Some young men mature earlier than others physically and Eddie was just starting to mature in grade 11 and 12,” he said.
“He’s managed to just get bigger and stronger over the last couple of years, and because he had the speed and the footwork already, that extra size has allowed him to be even more damaging when he runs the footy.”
The Ignatius Park trio will take the field at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney from 7.45pm alongside a host of future stars.