From vanquished to victor, Jye Menzie rides the Devils rollercoaster
Devils hero Jye Menzie had to wait only one week for redemption after riding the extremes of football’s emotional rollercoaster. SEE THE VIDEO
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DEVILS hero Jye Menzie only had to wait a week for redemption after riding the extremes of football’s emotional rollercoaster.
The 16-year-old from Bridgewater had a snap on goal in the dying seconds against Oakleigh the previous round only for it to sail wide as the Devils went down by a point.
Just seven days later, Menzie took a mark about 30m out just before the final siren in Bendigo with Tasmania trailing the Pioneers by four points.
Despite more than half the opposition side manning the mark and having never had a shot on goal to win a game previously, the forward slotted his fourth goal of the match post-siren to give the Devils a two-point victory.
The Devils had trailed by 10 points with less than two minutes to play before Isaac Chugg goaled from a free kick followed by Menzie’s matchwinner.
“Last week, going down by one point was not the best and knowing you could have kicked the winning goal was heartbreaking,” the Year 11 Elizabeth College student said.
“But this week it was great to get up against a good team and it felt good.
“I was definitely nervous, but I was confident and just so relieved when it went through.
“Half the [Pioneers] team was on the mark, it was crazy, but I wasn’t really thinking about that.
“After it went through, it felt like all the pressure was off me and I was happy to celebrate with the boys.”
Menzie may be one of the younger members of the team but he has played every game so far, with the four-goal haul by far his best performance in a Devils jumper.
The Devils have three wins from their first six games going into Saturday’s North Melbourne-Sydney curtain-raiser against Dandenong at Blundstone Arena.
“I feel like especially now we are bonding as a team a lot better, so hopefully there are some wins on the way and it is looking good for the future,” he said.
“It is definitely my goal to be drafted, but my goal this year is to play as many Devils games as possible.”
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