Rep player Bryce on ball

Article reproduced from the parramatta-advertiser 03/11/2009.
Article By PETER BODKIN. Picture: JOHN APPLEYARD.

Despite living in rugby league’s western Sydney heartland, Jarryd Smith is happy to go against the herd, don the tight shorts and hit the AFL field.

"I think only two people in my school play AFL," Jarryd said. "I get a bit of cheek about it but I love the game so much."

Greystanes local Smith, 16, was selected for the Western Sydney Pioneers representative side this year after only four years in the game, and has been nominated for the Parramatta Advertiser’s Junior Sports Star Awards.

The year 10 student at Greystanes High began playing football at a young age, like many of his friends, but switched from the round to the oval ball game after attending an Auskick AFL carnival.

"After my first year, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep playing," Jarryd said.

"After my second year I enjoyed playing and loved it and didn’t turn back."

In addition to his representative games, Jarryd is a member of both the under-16s and -18s squads for Holroyd-Parramatta in the local competition, requiring him to play against older and often much larger opposition.

"One game I played in the 18s, they all looked like body builders," he said.

"Especially the first game I played, it was pretty intimidating, but then I played against them more and I was like, I can beat these guys."

Playing as a ruck-rover, Jarryd is one of the first to dive on any loose ball, regularly bearing the brunt of flying limbs as he puts on his body on the line.

"Getting kneed in the head when you try to go for a mark, getting elbowed, it’s all part of the game," he said.

With a new AFL franchise for Greater Western Sydney in the pipeline, Jarryd is eagerly awaiting the addition of a local team.

"I’m looking to get into their junior ranks their new home ground is going to be about five minutes from me, just down the road."