Blechynden name to watch

Pingelly product Tom Blechynden’s breakout season for the South Fremantle Football Club has earned him a spot in the WAFL Colts Team of the Year.

Playing every game this season, including an elimination final against East Fremantle, Blechynden averaged 20.9 disposals and 3.6 marks a game while playing primarily across a half-back flank.

In round 14 against Claremont, Blechynden tallied a massive 34 possessions and a goal.

The next week against Subiaco, Blechynden collected 32 possessions and laid six tackles.

He managed 12 tackles against Peel in round 16.

His impressive season meant his name was called out in a back-pocket position for the WAFL Colts Team of the Year at the Sandover Medal presentation night on Monday last week.

“I went to sleep and woke up the next morning to a heap of messages saying ‘well done’ — that’s when I realised I must have made it,” he said.

“A nice surprise.”

Blechynden was playing football for Aquinas College in Perth and the Brookton/Pingelly Football Club last year.

The 18-year-old moved to live and work in Perth after harvest last year, but came back home every Wednesday and Thursday to help out on his family’s farm.

“I worked Monday and Tuesday, come back to the farm Wednesday, just to give Dad a hand, then I’d leave lunchtime Thursday to get back to training on Thursday night,” he said.

“Footy season is over, so I’m back living at home at the moment, just crutching on a cradle at the moment.

Blechynden will play seniors in either South Fremantle’s reserves or league side next year and hopes to move to Perth full-time and start an apprenticeship.