Tigers young gun puts cherry on 2023 campaign

TORQUAY Football Club young gun and premiership player Chase Loftus was confident he had a good 2023, but never expected to claim his first club best and fairest at the senior level in just his second season.

Loftus, who played every senior game but one with the Tigers in 2023, became an integral part of Dom Gleeson’s midfield following James Darke’s season-ending ACL injury.

Often matched up on the Bellarine Football League’s best midfielders, Loftus was rewarded for his efforts by claiming the club’s best and fairest award, edging out Torquay forward and Les Ash Medal runner-up Lucas Anderson.

“I was very shocked when I won it, especially after the season Lucas had and guys like Sheldon Ham, I thought it was going to be one of those two,” Loftus said.

“It was a huge honour to win it, and just to be up on the board alongside guys I used to watch growing up, like Billy Henderson, James Darke, and Ben Raidme, was just huge for me.”

Loftus said his biggest development compared to last season was finding his confidence, mixing it up with some of the Bellarine’s biggest names and young talents.

“I just became a whole lot more comfortable out there on the field, becoming closer with the group definitely played a role in that as well as Dom trusting me to go into the middle this year.

“I really enjoyed playing on some of those premier players, I actually know a lot of the guys I was playing on, guys like Lachie Kidd from Queenscliff, Oliver Wiltshire from Barwon Heads, they’re tough to play on, but I just tried to focus on staying on them as much as I could.”

Loftus said he was firmly placed to play at Spring Creek in 2024 but had recently been contacted by several Geelong Football League clubs, namely St Mary’s, where his brother Kane is listed.

Several Tigers have already re-signed for 2024, with more than a dozen in the seniors side staying on for the club’s premiership defence.

“Dom is also speaking to Michael Barlow down at Werribee to see if I can get a pre-season run down there again, which I did at the start of this season and that was huge for me,” Loftus said.

“I’ll probably be a Tiger in 2024, but anything can happen between now and then.

“Charlie [Ham] and I have spoken about it a lot, he reckons to go have a crack, it’s a really good experience and all the boys down there get around you which is nice. He just mentioned to do what makes me happiest.”

Other top vote-getters in the club best and fairest count, as voted by the coaches, included Sheldon Ham, Michael Croxford, Oscar Lewis, Weylin Doyle, Jesse Dawson, Jacob Ireland and Edward McCoy.