General News
7 October, 2020
Grady Rooke and Jack Hammond head north
TWO Cobden footballers are quarantining ahead of football seasons in the Northern Territory.
TWO Cobden footballers are quarantining ahead of football seasons in the Northern Territory.
Grady Rooke and Jack Hammond have both joined Nightcliff Tigers for the 2020/21 Northern Territory Football League season which started last Friday.
Rooke said the pair was looking forward to their football odyssey, which eventuated thanks to a mutual connection.
“The assistant coach played with Jack at Tongala so he got us onto it,” he said.
“The fact we had no footy season made us want to come as well, although it took us a bit to decide.
“We just thought bugger it we’ll give it a crack. I’ve always seen people going up there and I’ve always wanted to do it myself.”
Rooke and Hammond entered quarantine last Friday and will remain there until Friday week.
They missed the Tigers opening round victory over St Marys and will likely miss their next two games against Waratah and Southern Districts.
Nonetheless Rooke said the pair was hoping to establish themselves in the Tigers top side when they join their new team-mates for training and matches.
“We’re hoping to try and play Premier League but we’ll just see how we go,” he said.
“We’re not having too high expectations on ourselves; we’ll just try our best and see what happens.
“It’s a new experience for me, so I just want to enjoy it and come back fitter when we come back down home.
“I think we’ll miss the first two games and then they play the day after we come out of quarantine so we’ll probably end up missing three.”
Rooke said the pair already had ideas of the style and standard of football played in the Northern Territory.
He said he was looking forward to playing a different style compared to the contested nature of the Hampden league.
“The word is its pretty fast flowing up here,” Rooke said.
“They reckon it’s pretty wide open, not as many stoppages and stuff which I think should suit me alright.”
Meanwhile, fellow Cobden players Josh Hickey, Christian Koroneos and Sam Giblett are gearing up for AFL Cairns finals campaigns with Port Douglas Crocs.
The Crocs sit undefeated on top of the ladder in both the seniors and reserves ahead of this weekend’s final round against Manunda Hawks.
Giblett and Koroneos have played in all 11 senior matches, while Hickey has played the past four matches in the reserves after play four senior games earlier in the season.