James Worpel claims Round 21 Rising Star nomination after performance against Geelong
HAWTHORN young gun James Worpel won plenty of admirers for his attack on the ball against Joel Selwood on Saturday and it’s helped him claim the Round 21 Rising Star nomination as well.
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JAMES Worpel looked at Joel Selwood and put his head down.
Running at full pace and with the Sherrin between then, the teenager grabbed the footy cleanly and spun past the Geelong captain.
Worpel handballed to Ryan Schoenmakers, who handballed to Jack Gunston, who kicked a crucial 50m goal in the third quarter.
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Dual premiership player David King labelled it the “toughest thing I’ve seen in football all year” and it has helped earn Worpel the Round 21 Rising Star nomination.
“Clarko (coach Alastair Clarkson) has been really big on ground balls and getting your nose to the ground,” Worpel said.
“So I just thought I’d put my head over and didn’t think about it too much, which was probably a good thing.
“I did know it was Joel. I looked up and saw him and thought, ‘Here we go, one of us is probably going to get killed here’. I’m just lucky it wasn’t me.
“He’s one of the most courageous players in the game, so I just stuck my head over it and didn’t really want Clarko to yell at me if I (pulled) out.
“A few of the boys have said well done. We had a review and it was in there and they said keep doing it and the whole team feeds off it.”
Worpel polled six coach’s votes, behind only Patrick Dangerfield, in the win against the Cats.
Big moments are becoming a common theme for Worpel, who last weak beat Michael Hurley in a one-on-one contest to boot the match-winner against Essendon.
Worpel - who grew up a passionate Cats fan idolising Corey Enright - captained Geelong Falcons to last year’s TAC Cup premiership.
“All I have to do is stand behind him at home and I can see how strong his legs are,” housemate Luke Breust said.
“It’s no surprise to me that he was able to hold his own in a contest with one of the better one-on-one defenders (Hurley).”
Worpel, 19, slipped to pick No.45 in last year’s draft, where the Hawks pounced with their first selection.
While Worpel said he wasn’t quite ready for his first taste of AFL in Round 6, he returned in Round 18 and gathered 32 disposals.
Worpel’s Rising Star nomination follows their first choice in the 2016 draft, Harry Morrison, who was recognised last week.
Worpel keeps a comb in his locker to brush his curly hair, much to the amusement of captain Jarryd Roughead.
“A little bit is an understatement. I’m pinching myself a lot right now - especially the last two weeks - they’ve been pretty surreal,” Worpel said.
“I kicked that goal last week which was pretty special and this week against Geelong, the team I barracked for all of my life.
“The last couple of weeks have been super special.”
Worpel said he was yet to enter contract talks about extending his draft contract beyond 2019.
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