By ADEM SARICAOGLU
TOUGH inside midfielders don’t quite draw the same accolades as their more flashy, outside running counterparts.
The ones that are good enough, however, are a coach’s dream.
Western Jet Jake Greiser is one such talent, and the former Keilor Football Club junior got to showcase his wares in the under-18 national championships as part of the Vic Metro squad earlier in the year.
“Training and playing against the best in the country, I guess you get to see the standard you need to play at,” Greiser said.
“And you get to see the talent as well, so I guess you just try to match the level, or better it.”
The 17-year-old twice got to don the big V and on both occasions was impressive, even rating a mention among Metro’s best players in their close loss to eventual carnival winners, South Australia.
It was against the Croweaters where Greiser got see first-hand the talent he is going to be compared against come draft time later this year, but his good showing against the best young footballers in the country gave him hope a spot on an AFL list could very well be on the cards.
“Playing well against South Australia and against their inside mids and their bigger bodies, it gives me the idea that I could be up there against a few of them and considering I played all right against them, it could give me a chance,” Greiser said.
“(South Australia’s) Luke Dunstan is more my kind of player.
“A bigger body – but it was a good experience because I got to see how he played and I matched up against him a couple times in the stoppages and it was a pretty even contest.
“But it was a really good challenge to have to get in the right positioning and being able to locate him out of the contest – so it was a really good experience.”
A well-established performer and consistent ball-winner for the Jets, Greiser said the speed of the games he played in for Metro was much faster than what he’d become accustomed to in the TAC Cup.
However, with the championships now done and dusted and his Jets on the verge of a possible top four finish in the TAC Cup, Greiser is keen to finish off the year in style.
“Hopefully I can finish up the season strong and play some consistent footy, and hopefully we go into the finals top four and get as far as we can,” he said.
For his outstanding sporting achievements Greiser has been named this month’s Don Deeble Rising Star nominee.
The award is run by the Sunshine Western Region Sports Club in conjunction with the Star News Group.
Jake will receive $1000 donated by the Yarraville Club Cricket Club and other prizes to assist in his future sporting goals.
The Don Deeble Rising Star Award recognises young athletes in the western suburbs who have achieved outstanding results at a state and national level.
