Tamworth Kangaroo James Vallender believes the backline is where he's best suited but after the weekend's performance he might find himself up forward a lot more often.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 20-year-old, better known around the club as Tractor, kicked six goals at centre half forward against Moree-Narrabri on his way to being named the Kangaroos' best.
"The stars aligned for me to kick a bag which doesn't happen very often but I was rapt," Vallender said.
Whether Vallender will find himself up forward against the Inverell Saints this Saturday, he's not too sure and he doesn't mind either.
"I'm happy to go wherever I'm needed," Vallender said.
The win last Saturday took the Kangaroos to outright second on the ladder, one win behind cross-town rivals the Tamworth Swans.
Vallender said the side was playing with a new-found confidence in 2021 after a tough 2020 season where the Kangaroos finished second last.
"We've put some wins together that we weren't even close to getting last year," Vallender said.
"We knocked off [the Swans] a couple weeks ago and we wouldn't have gotten close to that last year.
"We've really started to gel with the new blokes that have come to the club... and it's starting to show on the scoreboard let alone our play during the game.
"We can try and play a few different game styles and it's starting to come out which is really exciting."
Inverell sit one win off the Kangaroos on the ladder in equal third with the New England Nomads who host the Swans on Saturday.
READ ALSO:
Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
