By Grant Hitzman
Corbin Dickfos has had a footy in his hands for as long as he can remember.
Son of AFL Queensland Hall of Famer, Rob, and nephew of Brisbane Bears/Lions player, Danny, Corbin is keeping the Dickfos name alive, after nabbing the Round 6 QAFL Rising Star award over the weekend.
The 20-year displayed electrifying pace, clean hands and courage against a third placed Broadbeach outfit over the weekend, but remained modest about his own performance.
“Personally I think I was average, I had a good quarter then a bad five or ten minutes so that’s something I can definitely work on,” Dickfos said.
“I take a lot of pride being in the six-man leadership team and I want to stand up in our down periods with smothers, tackles and plenty of talk to keep the positivity up.”
The Hawks put up a gallant effort away from home, but fell agonisingly short by 4 points, which Dickfos said was due to inexperience.
“We had some good patches and some down periods like all young sides do – some extra polish and class will help us get up against the top teams,” he said.
A small statured midfielder/forward, Dickfos, while unlike his father and uncle in size, says he has taken inspiration from his relatives and adopted their intensity and pursuit of the football.
“Ever since I can remember I had a footy in my hands and me and my my brother (Jackson) were kicking it around at training with Dad and Danny,” Dickfos said.
“We all hate to lose and we only have one focus on the field which is to get the ball – I definitely got that competitive nature from them.
“I don’t even think about my size when I’m playing, I just go for the footy first and think about consequences later, thats the way I like to play.”
Dickfos, a Physiotherapy student, expressed his desire to continue playing footy and assist the young Sandgate team in becoming more consistent.
“I’m five days a week at uni, so balancing the study, training and game day is hard and there are no short cuts, but I love my footy so it isn’t hard for me to keep my motivation up,” he said.
“I don’t want to put any restrictions on where I want to go with my footy because of study, whether I push for the NEAFL or stay where I am will all depend on life and other commitments.
“For this season, I think we should be aiming for at least another four or five wins, probably more, and focus on keeping games competitive and becoming more consistent performers.”
Hawks senior coach, Rob Dickfos, believes Corbin can reach new heights in football given his professional approach.
“He has his head screwed on really well and takes the game so seriously and with a deep passion,” he said.
“I think if he really wants to go further he could absolutely play at NEAFL level.”
