Blues hold no fears with destiny in their hands

Launceston midfielder Fletcher Seymour is having some sort of 2019 Bupa TSL campaign.

Three best afield performances see him placed as the joint leader of the RACT Insurance Player of the Year award after nine rounds, with his latest effort, a 36-disposal, nine tackle midfield masterclass at KGV, cementing his status as one of the competition’s rising stars.

Seymour, who made the move to Windsor Park after a maiden Bupa TSL campaign with Clarence in 2018, has settled well into life under coach Mitch Thorp, and credits the experience of his new coach and former coach Jeromey Webberley for his improvement as a player.

“It’s great having Jeromey Webberley last year at Clarence and now Mitch Thorp this year,” he said.

“Both have AFL experience and both have learned from the best – Mitch was coached by Alastair Clarkson at Hawthorn- so you are getting messages from some of the greatest coaches.”

Seymour has joined forces with the likes of Brodie Palfreyman, Jobi Harper, Tim Bristow and Jack Donnellan to form one of the competition’s best midfield ensembles, with Lauderdale coach Darren Winter labeling it the ‘best’ in the state earlier in the year.

Despite this damaging midfield group, the new-look Blues minus names like Dylan Riley, Sonny Whiting and Rulla Kelly-Mansell in 2019, have gone somewhat under the radar so far this season.

The Blues, through a stirring win over the Magpies at KGV in round 10, may now be viewed in a different light, however, with the scalp of a top-three team exactly what the Blues needed to stay in touch with the competition’s pacesetters.

Seymour insists his side held no reservations about playing Glenorchy on the road, despite his side not winning at the venue since 2012 and the ‘Pies winning the clash between the two in round one.

“We were really confident that we could go down there and cause an upset.

The team we have now is a fair bit different to our team from round one. We have a few handy inclusions back into the side, so we were confident that we could go down and cause an upset.”

Seymour acknowledged the importance of claiming the scalp of Glenorchy on the road.

“A win over one the top teams gives us that inner belief that we are good enough when we play our best footy to shape the top three.

“We need to keep beating the teams above us, teams below us. Our destiny is still in our own hands which is good. It’s not like later in the year where sometimes you are relying on other results.

The former under-19 Australian cricketer does, however, see plenty of scope for improvement as the group continues to click together.

“Getting games into our younger boys in the team has been important. At the start of the year there were probably six or seven guys who hadn’t played a senior TSL game and another four or five who had only played a handful.

“I know from experiences last year that it probably took me four or five weeks to get going in the season and then when you have a lot of players wanting to do that, it probably takes the six-eight weeks to get that scalp like we needed to d0.”

Seymour was also quick to praise the efforts of young utility Joseph Chaplin, who filled the void left by suspended coach Mitch Thorp inside 50.

“We got Joey Chaplin back from the Devils who is a big boy and presents really well, takes good marks and plays pretty similarly to Mitch.

“We were lucky in that sense that he came in and played that role when Mitch wasn’t available.

“There’s definitely room for the two of them in the team. I know Joey has played back in some of his younger days as well, so he could be a really handy swingman for us later in the year when we have them back full time.”