Dudley’s devotion pays off big time

SACRIFICE and commitment have become seamless traits Dudley Dotoi has embodied since moving to Townsville, and his debut in Blackhawks colours is set to only be the start of a meteoric rise.

The teenage sensation has been identified as a future excitement machine at the top level, after winning player-ofthe-match honours in the Kirwan Bears’ Aaron Payne Cup grand final triumph.

Bringing his ability, speed and forceful palm to the fore, the centrewinger scored a double in the T o w n s v i l l e under-18’s 48-10 victory over Mackay on Saturday in a telling debut.

However it is the nature of his approach to the game which has impressed coach Steve Sheppard the most, who said he and the up-and-coming livewire shared some similarities.

Last year Dotoi moved away from his family to pursue higher honours on the field, while he also scored a semifinal hat-trick for the Bears on the day his great grandmother passed away.

Sheppard said that dedication had been on show ever since he stepped into the Blackhawks system, and was set to take him on a one-way path to the NRL.

“Dudley’s a super talent, he’s still learning the day-today routine of a footballer but you certainly can’t question his talent – he’s a real strike for us on our left edge,” he said.

“We’re quite happy with how he’s tracking, we get along really well. We have a similar backgrounds. He played for

Burdekin where I played and we’re both from the same town so we get along really well.

“I think he’s got a big future if he keeps at it.”

Plenty of other Payne Cup stars were on show in Townsville’s Mal Meninga Cup opener, with Ragarive Wavik, Luke Jack, Jordan Davies, William Latu and Xavier ChatfieldMooka all featuring on the tryscorers’ sheet.

Ignatius Park half Thomas Duffy nailed six from nine conversion attempts.

A hat-trick to centre Davies stamped the outside b backs’ mark on the game, however Sheppard said each four-pointer scored came from a collective effort.

The engine room was on song throughout the contest, an impressive feat given the only trial performance the team had was an opposed session against the under-21s.

Now, even with areas to improve on, Sheppard said they set the bar for what was expected of them throughout the rest of the campaign, as they prepare for the Northern Pride in Cairns this weekend.

“I was happy with the platform our forwards laid,” Sheppard said.

“Our nines did a really good job to steer us around the park, then the vision of our halves to find them out wide just showed how much of a team effort all our tries were.

“We’ll review, try and improve on some areas and turn our focus towards the Pride next week.

“It’ll be similar preparation because going in blind.

“We haven’t seen the Pride play so we’ll be going in blind worrying about ourselves.” a sort of we’re