St Mary’s small forward Beau Tedcastle wins his first Rising Star nomination after three games

Champion schoolboy footballer Beau Tedcastle completes the transition from junior football to senior ranks by securing a Rising Star nomination

St Mary's' Rising Star nominee Beau Tedcastle shows his defensive side when tackling Tiwi Bomber Cosmos Puautjimi. Picture: Felicity Elliott

ST MARY’S small forward Beau Tedcastle is living proof you start learning the game of Australian football from an early age.

The Round 5 nominee for the prestigious NT News Rising Star award, Tedcastle’s four goals against Palmerston in only his third game of league football has him stamped as a future start of the competition.

The 16-year-old has already won league goalkicking awards at under-14, U16 and U18 level and a series of underage best and fairest medals.

His league debut coincided with advice from Saints coach Anthony Vallejo to add another dimension to his game in the form of defensive pressure and he has not looked back since.

Vallejo coached Tedcastle in the junior grades and knows his capabilities.

“We worked Beau a little bit hard in the pre-season when he trained with the senior side and started with the 18s in the first two weeks,’’ Vallejo said.

“Our message to him was ‘It’s not all about kicking five or six goals, forward line pressure is another big factor and it’s something he’s been working very hard at achieving.

‘We all talk about Cyril and young Maurice Rioli all the time, but they based their game around defence first and the goals flowed from that, areas of the game Beau has got a lot better at.’’

Vallejo rated Tedcastle’s defensive work against the Magpies on the same level as his goalkicking, important pieces in the St Mary’s game plan.

“My message is pretty simple every time he runs on to the ground, chase, tackle and put some pressure on your opponent and the goals will come.’’