Jake McKenzie has made the transition from good TAC Cup player to good National Carnival player after an outstanding debut for the Vic Metro last week. 79720_15 Picture: DAMIAN VISENTINI
By LIAM TWOMEY
AFTER years of hard work, nothing was going to stop Jake McKenzie from making his debut for the Vic Metro last weekend, not even a stomach bug.
The teenager may have been feeling under the weather going into the match and at every major break but as soon as the ball was bounced, white line fever took over.
Having been one of the Western Jets’ best performers during the first seven rounds of the TAC Cup season, it was no surprise to anyone to again see McKenzie raise the bar in a fantastic debut.
His run and carry off the backline helped Vic Metro stay within striking distance of the Northern Territory at Tio Stadium in Darwin until the home side eventually held on for the win.
“I just wanted to play that first game and now just try and hold my spot. Hopefully I’ve done that and we will see how I go from here,” McKenzie said.
“It was pretty disappointing from the team point of view but I was happy with my own performance.
“I was playing a lockdown role and then running off half back. He (coach Rohan Welsh) wants me to beat my opponent first and then try and hurt them offensively with my kicking.”
Seeing a McKenzie dominate on the big stage is nothing new for fans of the Western Jets who watched Jake’s brother Trent before he was pre-listed by the Gold Coast in the 2010 draft.
Jake said it had been great to see his brother succeed at AFL level after putting in all the hard work. “He is just an inspiration to me after seeing him go through what he’s done from the under 18s,” Jake said.
“It really inspires me to try and be like him. He is more of a winger but we both have that run from the middle of the ground to deliver to the forwards and try and hit them lace out.”
Western Jets’ coach Steve Kretiuk said he had been impressed with Jake, who had come along in leaps and bounds since putting in a tough pre-season.
“He has really been up there every week in our better performers. We just hope he keeps improving so we can get him into the midfield a bit more and allow him to impact games in there as well,” Kretiuk said.
“I think he plays his better footy off half back but I think for his own development he needs to expand his game into the midfield role and maybe even more as a half forward too.”
In a great result for the Western Jets, McKenzie was joined in the Vic Metro best players by his TAC Cup captain Ashlin Brown.
Kretiuk said he had seen a number of players perform well in the National Championship and return with an increased level of confidence at the TAC Cup.
“We saw a huge improvement in Will Hoskin-Elliott last year when he came back from the state games.
“I think the pressure was maybe released a bit and what we saw was his footy went to the next level. I think the guys that have a good carnival, sometimes you can pencil yourself in like Will did last year.
“We thought post carnival he was a certainty to get drafted and maybe that just relieves the pressure a little.”
