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After catching Sheens' eye, young Ayshford is now kept on his toes
Glenn Jackson
September 3, 2010
IT IS said that you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And so when Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens sat down in the SFS grandstand to watch the 2006 schoolboy grand final, he was told to cast an eye not only over his next batch of stars, from his famed Keebra Park High nursery, but over their opponents.
There, lining up against Robert Lui, one of the many players to come out of Keebra straight into a Tigers jersey, was a lanky lock by the name of Blake Ayshford, part of the equally famed Endeavour Sports High academy.
''I was there to watch Keebra Park but I was also told to keep an eye out for Blake as well,'' Sheens said. ''Endeavour won, and he played well.''
Sounds like end of story. It was just the beginning. Ayshford had been on scholarship with the Roosters, emerging with Mitchell Pearce and Mickey Paea. But having seen Chris Lawrence make his debut at age 18 with the Tigers just a few weeks before that Arrive Alive Cup decider, Ayshford gambled on less money but more opportunity.
''I just couldn't see myself making it there [the Roosters],'' Ayshford said. The decision was not an easy one. His uncle Bruce Ayshford had played with Arthur Beetson at the Roosters and he himself had grown up an eastern suburbs boy. And the ride when he did go west was not as smooth for Ayshford as it was for Lawrence.
The signs at first were good: Ayshford was named in an extended squad early the following season for a match against St George Illawarra at ANZ Stadium, only for Sheens to opt for Ben Te'o to debut rather than the younger Ayshford. But Ayshford would have to wait another two years to make his debut, his development stalled by a wrist problem that resulted in a piece of bone being shaved off his hip and grafted into his wrist.
''There was a while there I was thinking, 'I don't know if I'm going to make it','' he said. He still hasn't, not entirely. In the eyes of Sheens, a first-grader isn't a first-grader until he has played 50 games at that level. Thirty-five games, his tally, does not cut it yet.
Just weeks ago, Sheens threatened Ayshford with the axe - which the player believes has brought about a new attitude heading into his first finals series.
''Last year, I was the guy that was chasing [former Tigers centre] Dean Collis, to get his spot,'' Ayshford said. ''This year, I've got the starting centre spot, and then I've got guys like Mitch Brown and Geoff Daniela that are chasing me. Once I started playing bad, they were playing good footy and he was always looking to use them.
''I'm a pretty relaxed person … and he said it usually takes me to do something wrong in a game before I get into it and start firing up. He just said Geoff and Mitch were breathing down my neck. It was against Penrith [in round 23] - he told me before I had to go up against [Michael] Jennings. Imagine what was going through my head before that game. I had Jennings and [Frank] Pritchard, and he's told me I have to pick up my act or else he's going to use other people.''
However, Sheens still has long-term plans for Ayshford. Knowing the 22-year-old still has some filling out to do, he can see him one day moving into the back row. But that is for then, this is now. And as a centre Ayshford will attempt to win a grand final, as he did in 2006 while playing against one of his current teammates. If an eastern suburbs boy can make good in the west, anything's possible.
Glenn Jackson
September 3, 2010
IT IS said that you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And so when Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens sat down in the SFS grandstand to watch the 2006 schoolboy grand final, he was told to cast an eye not only over his next batch of stars, from his famed Keebra Park High nursery, but over their opponents.
There, lining up against Robert Lui, one of the many players to come out of Keebra straight into a Tigers jersey, was a lanky lock by the name of Blake Ayshford, part of the equally famed Endeavour Sports High academy.
''I was there to watch Keebra Park but I was also told to keep an eye out for Blake as well,'' Sheens said. ''Endeavour won, and he played well.''
Sounds like end of story. It was just the beginning. Ayshford had been on scholarship with the Roosters, emerging with Mitchell Pearce and Mickey Paea. But having seen Chris Lawrence make his debut at age 18 with the Tigers just a few weeks before that Arrive Alive Cup decider, Ayshford gambled on less money but more opportunity.
''I just couldn't see myself making it there [the Roosters],'' Ayshford said. The decision was not an easy one. His uncle Bruce Ayshford had played with Arthur Beetson at the Roosters and he himself had grown up an eastern suburbs boy. And the ride when he did go west was not as smooth for Ayshford as it was for Lawrence.
The signs at first were good: Ayshford was named in an extended squad early the following season for a match against St George Illawarra at ANZ Stadium, only for Sheens to opt for Ben Te'o to debut rather than the younger Ayshford. But Ayshford would have to wait another two years to make his debut, his development stalled by a wrist problem that resulted in a piece of bone being shaved off his hip and grafted into his wrist.
''There was a while there I was thinking, 'I don't know if I'm going to make it','' he said. He still hasn't, not entirely. In the eyes of Sheens, a first-grader isn't a first-grader until he has played 50 games at that level. Thirty-five games, his tally, does not cut it yet.
Just weeks ago, Sheens threatened Ayshford with the axe - which the player believes has brought about a new attitude heading into his first finals series.
''Last year, I was the guy that was chasing [former Tigers centre] Dean Collis, to get his spot,'' Ayshford said. ''This year, I've got the starting centre spot, and then I've got guys like Mitch Brown and Geoff Daniela that are chasing me. Once I started playing bad, they were playing good footy and he was always looking to use them.
''I'm a pretty relaxed person … and he said it usually takes me to do something wrong in a game before I get into it and start firing up. He just said Geoff and Mitch were breathing down my neck. It was against Penrith [in round 23] - he told me before I had to go up against [Michael] Jennings. Imagine what was going through my head before that game. I had Jennings and [Frank] Pritchard, and he's told me I have to pick up my act or else he's going to use other people.''
However, Sheens still has long-term plans for Ayshford. Knowing the 22-year-old still has some filling out to do, he can see him one day moving into the back row. But that is for then, this is now. And as a centre Ayshford will attempt to win a grand final, as he did in 2006 while playing against one of his current teammates. If an eastern suburbs boy can make good in the west, anything's possible.
