Ash can become ruck star
Hermit Park teen steps up
Hermit Park may have unearthed a ruck star after a midgame injury forced teenage debutant Ashton Leeming into a featured role in the seasonopening win over University.
The athletic 17-year-old stepped up when ruckman Sean Mackereth landed awkwardly before halftime in the 9.5 (59) to 6.6 (42) win.
Standing around 193cm tall, Leeming made an instant impact in the ruck to earn the praise of coach Max Tink.
“Ashton went in there fulltime in the second half and was outstanding,” Tink said.
“He gave us first use in the second half and in third quarter we were able to score a bit and a lot of that came off the work of the midfield, off the back of his work.
“He’s a supreme athlete – like an elite athlete – but he’s still fairly new to the game. If he sticks to footy when he gets a little bit older, by 23 or 24 he is going to be very, very good.
“He has the potential, he’s just scratching the surface.”
Tink said Mackereth could have returned to the game but the Tigers saw no need to risk him when understudy Leeming was up to the task.
Mackereth is expected to resume his starting role for the grand final rematch against Thuringowa next week.
Hermit Park’s senior players were instrumental in highscoring second and fourth quarters. Captain Joshua Andrews and Jason Di Betta kicked three goals each, while a crop of Tiger cubs stood up.
“We took a lot kids into the game with a few of our more senior players out,” Tink said.
“The pick of them was Ashton … (but) all the young boys had their moments. They chipped in where they could and there weren’t any letdowns there.”
Hermit Park kicked 24 and 20 points respectively in the back end of each half as fatigue became a factor.
University grew into the contest and by the fourth quarter was neck-andneck with Hermit Park in the scoring, though the Hawks couldn’t claw back the 17-point deficit by fulltime.
“They challenged us late and we were able to wrestle a sealing goal back but they are an improved outfit,” Tink said. “Uni have added some more speed and pace around the ball. Their team looked a lot more balanced.”
Curra’s baby Swans put the round 1 loss to Thuringowa in the rearview mirror with a 16.13 (109) to 3.4 (23) win over Northern Beaches at North Shore Oval.
Veteran goalsneak Craig Crichton kicked five goals to tie Bulldog Reegan Mrsich and University’s Ben Dempsey atop the Townsville senior men’s leaderboard.
Curra’s women beat Northern Beaches 6.7 (43) to 1.0 (6), while Hermit Park defeated University 3.15 (33) to nil.