https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/sport/local-sport/bruised-rib-cartilage-will-not-stop-determined-townsville-all-star/news-story/9167b6ade6670db5dedf05c9c5c476d8 IT HAS been five years in the making. It is the experience he has “been craving”. Finally, Kyle Reynolds has his All Stars. The Townsville Cyclones running back, along with quarterback Boeden Brunne, has been striving to get North Queensland Gridiron included in the national championships since 2015. Now 11 members of the Cyclones 2020 squad will join forces with fellow Australian title outliers Tasmania and the ACT in a combined All Stars representative squad. “We’ve been pushing for it from our end pretty heavily, getting in contact with all those involved down south,” Reynolds said.
“It’s 10 days of just football, you’re doing what you love … taking away that many guys that are going to experience a national championship and get coached by national level coaches, the whole thing is absolutely amazing. “It’s hit the field and perform … we’re not looking to become champions, we’re looking to prove we can play football at this level.” Bruised rib cartilage has ruled Reynolds out of action for the past few weeks. Still not fully fit, his focus is solely on getting himself right for the titles. His physiotherapist had warned him these sort of injuries could take up to six months to completely heal. But for Reynolds, even if some pain still lingers, the idea of not taking the field is laughable. While it meant he missed the latter part of the Cyclones season, including their semi-final loss to Cairns, too much effort had gone into this selection to not make the trip. “I’ve only just started getting into body weight workouts against so I wanted to give myself as much time to heal as possible rather than flogging myself for the Cyclones,” Reynolds said. “I know it’s a bit how’s your father, but they all understand it’s something I’ve been working towards for my entire 20s.” The competition will field two pools, with the All Stars taking on South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. With so many Townsville faces making the All Stars squad, Reynolds said the competition would spread the experience throughout the region and promote a stronger gridiron presence in North Queensland. “There has always been quite a bit of gridiron knowledge around Townsville, it has just been getting those guys down to help out,” he said. “Knowing quite a few people around the traps in Australian gridiron, knowing some national level coaches, taking our junior lads away to national championships — all of it culminates in bringing experience back to Townsville.” The national championships will begin on May 30.
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AuthorI covered a vast range of sports and issues in my time with the Bulletin. Archives
June 2020
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