Rugby rules in the battle to win Blyth
ANGUS Blyth is a rugby star on the rise.
But the teen giant could easily have been on a different path altogether after almost being poached by the Gold Coast’s AFL club.
Blyth grew up playing rugby against older age groups and has long been inching towards a professional career, plying his trade at The Southport School and now at Bond University.
A towering 203cm, the lock was part of the premier- ship-winning Queensland under-20 team and was in Georgia last month with the national squad for the under-20 World Cup.
He is now a senior premier grade starter and will spend the next pre-season training with the Reds’ top side.
It wasn’t long ago though that the 15-man code almost lost him to the Suns, as he weighed up his options for life after high school.
“(My manager) was just looking around and was pretty much getting offers from AFL and rugby,” Blyth, 19, said.
“We were going to go to AFL but then worked it all out, got the packages together and ended up sticking with rugby.
“That way I could get a lovely scholarship to Bond Uni and play the same game that I grew up with and don’t have to learn a full new game so it all worked out well.”
Despite him having barely watched an AFL game, he admitted he did go very close to following that path.
Bond University announced Blyth as a winner of the prestigious John Eales Rugby Excellence Scholarship last November and he has regularly been ticking off achievements since.
He played 80 minutes for the first time in a senior game last weekend in Bond’s Queensland Premier Rugby loss to Wests and has earnt praise from coach Sean Hedger.
“He presents a lot of physi- cality,” Hedger said. “Even though he is a young kid, he is a big body and he is not afraid to throw his body around. He enjoys the physical stuff and the rough stuff.”
Hedger said with experience and confidence, Blyth too will become more of a factor in the lineout.
The Tweed Coast junior is likely to start against Souths this afternoon at Robina in what shapes to be an open, high-scoring game of rugby.
Souths have the worst defensive record in the competition by far but are known to have little hesitation in throwing the ball around.
EVEN THOUGH HE IS A YOUNG KID, HE IS A BIG BODY AND HE IS NOT AFRAID TO THROW HIS BODY AROUND COACH SEAN HEDGER