Boom Bombers signing steps straight into one of State League’s hottest rivalries to start career
Self confessed “footy nerd” Allen Christensen has made sure he is fully aware of what awaits in his highly anticipated State League debut when Lauderdale hosts Eastern Shore rivals Clarence
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HIGH profile Lauderdale recruit Allen Christensen has featured in several well known rivalries in the AFL — but is now fully immersing himself into the State League’s battles.
Christensen was part of a Geelong side which built up a fierce rivalry with Hawthorn, while he also spent six years with Brisbane as it tried to assert dominance over fellow Queensland club Gold Coast.
The 29-year-old will immediately walk into one of the TSL’s hottest head to head battles when the Bombers launch their 2021 campaign against Clarence on Saturday, and he’s made sure he understands the significance of the Eastern Shore derby.
“I’m looking forward to fully entrenching myself in Tassie footy and being a part of the rivalries and everything that comes with it,” Christensen said on the eve of his highly anticipated debut.
“Lauderdale and Clarence being pretty big rivals, the boys have filled me in on a lot of that.
“To embrace a club and fully entrenched yourself in a club, you’ve got to buy into their history as well and I’ve done that and made sure that I spoke to the boys about what we stood for as a club in the past and what our history is.
“Going from there, what are our rivalries, and why doesn’t anyone like the teams up north. I love it, I’m a bit of a footy nerd like that.
“I’m really, really looking forward to what Saturday brings.”
Christensen is determined to not only have an impact on the field but off it as well, and declared himself fit and firing following an uninterrupted pre-season.
“I can only go out there and play the best that I can, I know what sort of player I am and everyone else knows what sort of player I am, they’ve seen me enough and I don’t think I’ve dropped down in fitness.
“I’m pretty excited to show the league what I’ve got and be a part of a team that I think can surprise a couple.”
Clarence coach Jeromey Webberley is the first opposition coach tasked with curbing the influence of Christensen.
While he has plans in place, he concedes it will a challenge.
“He’s going to give you some troubles, we’ve got some plans in place and some methods that we’re going to try and curb, not just him, but a few of their top end players,” Webberley said.
“It probably depends where he lines up to be honest. If he’s forward we have a match up for him there and if he starts in the middle, we’ll probably have someone take care of him at stoppage.”
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