Hull looking to press for starting spot in NEAFL outfit

By Andrew Johnston

IT wasn’t that long ago that Queanbeyan Tigers recruit Nick Hull was struggling to walk without pain, let alone pressing for a starting spot in the NEAFL.

But Queanbeyan has high hopes the 20-year-old could be the long-term answer to the club’s hunt for a genuine ruckman.

The East Wagga-Kooringal junior was recently announced as one of a host of key signings by the Tigers for the club’s 2014 NEAFL campaign along with Shepparton’s Levi Power and South Cairns Cutters backman Jake Hiep.

Standing at nearly two metres tall, Queanbeyan has earmarked Hull to fill a role in the ruck; an area the club has struggled with in recent years

While still raw, Hull showed his potential at East Wagga last season after cementing his position as the club’s number one ruckman before earning selection in the Farrer League’s representative side.

It was something of a breakout year for the young bigman who had been forced to sit out nearly the entire 2012 season following hip surgery.

A massive growth spurt that saw Hull transformed from the “smallest guy in the side” in the under-18s into the towering giant that caught the Tigers’ eye.

“It had just become a struggle to walk by the end of it, let alone play footy,” Hull said of the injury. “It gradually got worse and worse and then after one game I just said, ‘I can’t play anymore until I get this sorted out’.

“If I hadn’t got [the surgery done] when I did, they basically said by the time I was in my mid-20s I wouldn’t be able to play footy at all.

“Since the surgery though I haven’t had any issues at all so hopefully it’s all sorted.”

With his injury concerns behind him, Hull said he’d be looking to press for starting spot in Queanbeyan’s NEAFL outfit come round one where he’ll likely be sharing the rucking duties with Nathan Kerlin.