Ashlee Makim set to make her Western Clydesdales debut with Origin stars Keeley Davis and Kezie Apps out

The Western Clydesdales will be without two State of Origin reps in their upcoming clash with the Mackay Cutters this weekend. We reveal how the side will fill the void with a young mum set to make her BMD Premiership debut.

New South Wales Origin stars Kezie Apps and Keeley Davis. Picture: Toby Zerna

With two of their New South Wales Origin reps out, the Western Clydesdales BMD Premiership side will face their toughest task yet this weekend.

The Clydesdales will host the undefeated Mackay Cutters this weekend at Clive Berghofer Stadium without star forwards Keeley Davis and Kezie Apps.

Clydesdales coach Mitch Sargent however is confident his replacements can fill the gap.

The ‘loss’ of Davis and Apps is a silver lining of sorts for Ash Makim who will make her debut.

“Ash Makim will make her debut for the Clydesdales in replacement of Keeley Davis this week,” Sargent said.

“She is someone who has worked extremely hard and is a mother as well.

“A young mother by herself doing it tough with trying to fit footy commitments in with work and life so it is a credit to Ash’s commitment and she is a beautiful person.

“I am really proud of her to see her run out here on Sunday.

“Young Mackenzie Zellar will start in the second row.

“Mackenzie has played every game of BMD this season and is getting better each week so she will get a starting position there.”

While Sargent has full confidence in Makim and Zellar, he is still aware of the challenge that faces his side, with the Cutters taking the competition by storm this season.

“It is a big test for us, a big challenge to come up against an undefeated Mackay Cutters team and some really crucial rounds these next two or three weeks for us,” he said.

“We are currently sitting fourth, so it is a good opportunity for our other players now to step up and I know the team we have, they won’t let us down.

“They will give it everything they have got and I reckon they will surprise the community on the weekend.”

Proud moment

Makim was delighted when she found out she would make her debut this weekend and was eager to put in a strong performance in front her family.

“It’s great, it has been a long time coming after a couple of injuries during trials so to make my debut this weekend will be pretty good and my family are travelling up from New South Wales to watch,” she said.

“I haven’t played all that much since having my daughter so it will be a nice one for them to come back up and see.”

Makim said one of her biggest motivations is to be a strong role model for her young daughter.

Western Clydesdales BMD Premiership player Ashlee Makim with her daughter.

“I think that is one of the most exciting things sort of looking towards the future, for my daughter to be able to see that mum once upon a time could handle herself on the footy field,” she said.

“It is actually motivating at times just to be that role model for my daughter and not just my daughter but for all the young kids around.

“I am very passionate about the development of the sport for grassroots and around Toowoomba, they provide such good role models for all of the girls.

“For my daughter to be able to grow up and be able to see that her mum did play with such a good team like the Clydesdales, that is going to be the rewarding part for her to grow up around strong and talented women, it’s pretty ideal.”

Between being a mother, working and chasing her football endeavours, there is no questioning the commitment which Makim puts in across all aspects of her life.

“To be honest it is extremely difficult between getting up and being at work by just after seven each morning, to then sometimes getting home at nine or just after with a really young child on my own, it is pretty hard and makes for very tiring days,” she said.

“But it is a rewarding sport and the team are extremely supportive so it is a pretty good support network with the girls.”

With the Clydesdales boasting a mixture of youth and experience, Makim said the dynamic within the squad has been great.

“There’s a really good variety of girls within the BMD squad and its great that everyone can learn off others,” she said.

“Even though some of the girls are very new to the game, they still bring a little bit of experience from other sports that haven’t been around the sport as much.

“So it does bring a good variety of angles to our team and that is one of our strengths as we do have both young and experienced players and we’ve got a mix of both worlds there.”