A 14-year-old key forward has, sensationally, booted 14 majors in his side's trouncing of a local rival on the weekend.
Angus Wood, representing the Lake Macquarie Dockers in New South Wales' Hunter Central Coast Juniors competition, had himself a day out against Newcastle City, accounting for 14 of his side's 18 majors in a performance the likes of which the region rarely sees.
Making the haul all the more impressive is Wood was competing as a bottom-ager at the under-16s level, and was so sick that if not for low numbers, he most certainly would've been given the week off.
In a statement provided exclusively to Zero Hanger, Wood described the outing as "pretty special".
"It's something I won't ever forget, but it couldn't have been done without good defence and deliveries to me, so that certainly helped," Wood said.
"I kicked as many goals as I am in age, so it was a good day. (The) best bit was my accuracy with only four behinds - three of them in the last quarter as I got fatigued because of sickness," he added.
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"I was happy with my ability to get in and around contests in our forward 50, to be able to win the ball and get a few 'cheapies' through that. All in all it was a special day with the boys that I've known and played with for a few years now, and I'm happy I was able to experience it with all of them, even those who weren't there on the day."
Not yet a member of the Sydney Swans academy, despite falling inside their catchment, Wood is doing his best to perform at the highest levels available to him, and will co-captain the under-15s Hunter Country representative side in the Northern New South Wales Championships next month.
Accuracy has been a club-wide focus at the Dockers, according to senior's captain, and Wood's coach, James Seidel, who spoke of his forward glowingly, on Monday.
"We've been working a lot on set shot kicking as a club over the last two weeks, as across our 16s and seniors, we were 83.130 for the season up to Round 8. The last two weeks, as a club, we've been 47.33. Angus kicking 14.4 certainly helped that," Seidel joked.
"(As for Angus), if it weren't for the low numbers, we wouldn't have played him, as he's been battling the flu and an ankle injury this week. The first thing he said to me after the game was "I need to get back in bed".
"We emptied out the forward line and made a choice to feed him for the last quarter to see how many he could get. His twin brother even left a 'gimme' goal on the table from two meters out to instead shepherd for his brother.
"He's a natural born forward and has sensational craft. (He) knows to protect the ball drop, especially by working his opponents under it.
"The biggest change in his game (recently) is getting actively involved in defence. He is earning himself more opportunities by putting in the same effort no matter who has the ball."
Wood, playing under the same mascot and in the same colours of the club he adores, the rampaging Fremantle Dockers, channeled a couple of his heroes in the victory.
A huge fan of Josh Treacy and Patrick Voss, Wood had the chance to meet his heroes in March of last season, when the Lake Macquarie Dockers leveraged their partnership with their AFL counterpart, and headed west.
Fremantle hosted Lake Macquarie a facilities tour and a training run at their Cockburn base, before Wood's side played the curtain-raiser ahead of the Dockers' clash with the Swans, on the Optus Stadium carpet. Wood's side played against a composite team made up of players from Fremantle's other partner junior clubs.
Seidel, the side's runner on the day, revealed the New South Welshmen lost comfortably, but all involved were grateful for the experience.
