By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE Power of motivation is particularly strong for three local footy prodigies who have used their experience of rejection to spur them on through the elite football system.
Gippsland Power TAC Cup midfielder Troy Toussaint is entering his first year in the under-18 competition after missing out in last season’s selection process.
The Pakenham 17-year-old, who made his senior debut with Pakenham last season, was told he had to improve his fitness – specifically his explosiveness – if he was to take the next step in his footy journey.
Pakenham Football Club president Steve Moloney said Toussaint was the youngest local prospect “in around a decade” to don a Lions senior guernsey.
Now, at just 174 centimetres, Toussaint is one of the shortest on the Power list.
He has always been an absolute ball-magnet but he increased his fitness to such an extent over the past 12 months that it became impossible for the Power to again look past him.
He’s hoping to establish a regular spot in the Gippsland midfield with an unabashed aim of one day playing AFL football.
The youngster played for the Hallam Senior College AFL Academy side in the School Sport Victoria (SSV) Premier League grand final on the MCG last year against Essendon Keilor College.
The Casey side lost but – in a sign of maturity – Toussaint used the experience as a learning one, another motivator.
For the first time in years, Pakenham is putting a real stamp on the elite young playing stocks of the Gippsland Power.
Teenagers James Harrison and Sean Russell will line-up in the Power’s under-15s side this year.
Both midfielders, the two – like Toussaint – were overlooked for spots in the Gippsland representative team last season.
Both admit to previously being too timid, not going hard enough at the ball.
But again, like Toussaint, both have learned from their experiences.
A fourth Pakenham product, Jake Smith, will line-up for the Power’s under-16 side this season.
He describes himself as a midfielder with good aerial skills and who reads the play well.
He confidently compares his game style to that of Gary Ablett Jr – “a great kick who can also play forward”.
But don’t mistake Smith’s confidence for arrogance. He’s a relentless worker.
“One of his old coaches told him that if he kept kicking on his preferred foot in matches, he’d be dragged,” Moloney said.
“So he just worked on it.”
It seems the future is bright for the four boys from the Lions’ den.
