Dubbo’s Alex Brouff has made his Australian debut in a best-of-three test series against New Zealand at the weekend.
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The Australian under 18s – Aussie Thunder – were unlucky to lose the two-day series, despite scoring more points overall across the three games.
The Kiwis clinched the Sunday afternoon decider 14-11, after managing a 12-11 golden point win in the opening match.
But the Aussies dominated the second game, running away to a 15-7 victory.
Brouff, who is the first Dubbo Ultimate Frisbee Federation (DUFF) player to play for Australia, was nursing an injury through the series, but said it was a good weekend.
“The first game was extremely tight … it took us a bit to switch on but when we did we really brought it back,” Brouff said.
“The second game we switched on … it was definitely representative of our strength.”
The highlight for Brouff was the winning point scored by teammate Jono Jones, from Western Australia, in game two.
Australian handler James Walker threw a lofty flick to his fellow Victorian Patrick Graham. Graham then threw the disc diagonally across the field and over the top of Jones, who had to turn and dive to reel in the disc. Jones landed in the end zone, getting Australia the point and the win.
Brouff couldn’t say why the Australians lost the decider, but said fatigue may have been a factor; they had a two-day training camp before the series.
The nerves might have just got the better of them, he said.
Brouff played primarily as a defensive player, and as a utility on offence, and said he learned a great deal over the four days.
“I was very happy, I learned a ton of stuff that I never would have learned here [in Dubbo] and I’ll try to put that into practice over the next few months,” he said.
“Personally I just want to work on how I throw and how I cut.”
A lot of hard work has gotten Brouff this far. The 18-year-old debuted for the Western NSW Wanderers mixed side at just 14 years old, and has since gone to represent Manly at the Australian Ultimate Championships in the men’s division, and NSW in the under 18s.
“When I was seven or eight I never would have given it a second thought.” he said. “It just wasn’t … something that I thought I could achieve but now I’ve made it … it feels pretty good.”
Brouff will now turn his attention to gaining selection in the Australian under 20s team for the 2018 World Championships in Canada.
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