Tigers bolstered as club’s underage stars and former AFL draftees reunited for upcoming campaign

Tigers’ hopes of emulating last year’s breakthrough TSL finals appearance have been bolstered by the return of a former Gold Coast Sun.

Mackenzie Willis gets a kick away during a NEAFL game between the Southport Sharks and Gold Coast Suns at Fankhauser Reserve last year. Photo of Photo by Richard Gosling

TIGERS star Kieran Lovell will be reunited with his underage tag-team partner for the first time in five years this State League season.

In a major boost for the club’s hopes of improving on last year’s breakthrough finals appearance, the Tigers have regained Mackenzie Willis for 2020.

Willis was drafted in 2015 alongside Lovell — who returned to Tasmania last year — and played five matches for Gold Coast across 2016-17.

Mackenzie Willis after being drafted by Gold Coast Suns in 2015. Pic John Gass

He ruptured his ACL in May 2018 and was subsequently delisted at the end of the season, before staying in Queensland and playing with Southport in the NEAFL last year.

However with the NEAFL’s 2020 season postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 24-year-old has moved back to Hobart and will again join forces with his midfield sidekick Lovell.

Willis’s last season in the TSL in 2015 resulted in him becoming the first Tiger selected in the competition’s team of the year.

Mackenzie Willis in action in his last season for the Tigers in 2015.

“Macca is a very driven guy, he had that option with the NEAFL of going and playing QAFL,” Tigers coach Trent Baumeler said.

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“But he wants to play at the highest levels that he can, obviously family here, coming home to play State League footy where he has played before­.

“He will fit right in, he is familiar with the boys and has played a lot of footy with them.

“He will bring a lot of leadership to us, he has played AFL footy so we want to get everything we can out of him in terms of his football performance, but also the way he will be around the club.

“His knowledge as well, he has been in AFL systems, he was coached by Rocket Eade, he is going to bring something to the table.”

The Tigers’ first taste of TSL finals ended on a sour note, with Launceston handing the side a 55-point drubbing in the elimination final.

And after finishing five wins adrift of the Blues in fifth spot — and with this year’s finals reverting to a top-four system — Baumeler is aware the task of repeating the feat has been made more difficult.

“We need to look at that as a positive, going into a final four it does make it harder for us to get in. The reality is we won a third of our games last year.

“It becomes tougher now, which is good, we don’t want anything handed to us.

“We certainly want to earn every bit of success.”