KHYLE’S KICKING GOALS
He’s only 16 but Khyle Goodman is already on the AFL fast
track.
Khyle knew he was being watched. A couple of scouts had been
to see his games in Townsville and Rockhampton. But it was still a shock when
he got the call from Richie Lyons to say that Craig Millar, Football
Development Manager for the Redland Bombers, was coming to Townsville to
interview him. “Craig asked me all sorts of questions – how serious I am about
football, what I’m like… I always find it hard to answer that question!” But
Khyle’s answers made the grade. In October last year he was offered a
scholarship to complete his Grade 12 schooling at Faith Lutheran College while
playing for the Redland Bombers. “We train three nights a week with games on
Saturdays and Sundays. The training is more intense than I’m used to, but I
need to get my fitness up for when the season starts in April.”
Only five young players were hand-picked for the state
league from North Queensland, with Khyle being the only selection from Townsville.
“There are only two teams and 23 spots with the Bombers, so it’s competitive,”
he says. You have to train well during the week to be chosen for a team to play
that weekend. If you don’t perform, you don’t get picked. The goal is to make
the seniors’ team before turning 18.”
In Townsville Khyle was the centre for the Curra Swans and
won Goal Kicker of the Season for the past four years. Having played several
games of A Grade for the Swans, he’s already no stranger to playing with the
big boys. “The first few times it was nerve-racking because you’re playing
against men,” Khyle admits. “But it’s all about getting the experience. There
are a few guys from A Grade who’ve really pushed me to work hard. Peter Johnson
has been a big influence. Richie has been there for years keeping us going. And
A Grade coach Peter Pyle encouraged me to play as many senior games as I
could.”
Now it’s up to Khyle to show he has what it takes to make
the AFL. “I was talking to Jake Spencer – a Townsville guy who also started
young with the Bombers like me. Now he’s the second ruckman for the Melbourne
Demons so he’s made it. It only took him a few years to get to the big stage
and that’s my dream too.”