Nick Buykx comes from a production line the Werribee Tigers are increasingly keen to tap into.
Buykx lives in nearby Williams Landing, played locally with Werribee Districts and Point Cook in the WRFL and graduated to TAC Cup level with the Western Jets, so it was only natural that he wanted to play for his hometown Victorian Football League club.
With the Tigers going stand-alone from next season, they will need to rely on local talent more than ever and will want better access to players born and raised in Wyndham.
For Buykx, the Tigers’ record intake of Jets-produced players this season helped his transition.
“I moved down with a lot of other boys,” he said. “I didn’t really know many people when I came to the club, but I kind of had that little network before I established myself.”
Buykx has wasted no time settling in at Avalon Airport Oval.
A small defender in the mould of Tigers captain Michael Sodomaco, the 19-year-old has played eight games at senior level and five in the AFL Victoria Development League.
Buykx was back in the development league team on Sunday, but another best-on performance for that side may mean a return to the senior line-up.
Even when he has stepped up to the seniors in this rookie year, Buykx has looked the part.
“The biggest step up I found was playing against the bigger bodies,” said Buykx, who is studying teaching at Victoria University’s Footscray Park campus.
“The speed and just getting used to it initially, even at training, let alone game day, was just a massive step up. I adapted pretty well and pretty quickly, I think.
“I like to be pretty aggressive and on the front foot, especially when I’ve got a [shut down] role, so that’s what I can bring to the team. It’s what I’ll do each week, no matter what level I play.”
Buykx’s arrival on the VFL scene was timed to perfection.
He showed his talent and earned respect at the club by playing two games at the start of the season in Werribee’s development league team.
Tigers coach John Lamont liked what he saw and gave the youngster an early senior debut.
Who knows where Buykx might have been playing in the opening two rounds if the time clock was fast forwarded to April, 2018.
AFL Victoria last week announced that its development league competition would be disbanded at the end of this year, with players potentially filtering back to their local clubs.
Having benefitted from development league experience, which provides a bridge between the TAC Cup and the VFL, Buykx reckons players like himself could be harder for clubs to identify in the future and the players’ experience will decline.
“I wasn’t expecting a round one call-up, so I knew if I wanted a senior opportunity, I’d have to work hard through development,” Buykx said.
“I came to the club thinking that I want to earn the respect of the boys and try and work hard through the development team, but if the opportunity [to play in the senior side] came, I’d take it with both hands.
“When my name did pop up for round four, I was over the moon, but I had to earn that respect in development league first.”
AFL Victoria will announce details of new pathways to the VFL in the coming weeks.
Buykx, a former cricketer who played in Western Spirit representative squads, is just relieved that he got the opportunity to play development league in his first season at Werribee and got his chance of a dream call-up to the VFL seniors.
