Sam Gibson plays his 100th game for the Box Hill Hawks against Sandringham this Sunday. This will earn him Life Membership with the club he has played his entire senior career with. A great feat considering the ever-changing and sometimes transient nature of the VFL competition as Paul Hooper reports.
Gibson, 25 has been with the Box Hill Hawks since being recruited from the Oakleigh Chargers in 2006, playing in the Hawks Reserve Premiership that year. Recruited by Hawthorn as a Rookie in 2007, Gibson was still able to play with Box Hill and when he was released from Hawthorn in 2009 he immediately signed back with Box Hill as a VFL listed player.
“When I was delisted by Hawthorn, my main objective was to concentrate on my own game and work on consistency. Now that I have achieved that, the progression to being a senior figure and now Captain of the club is very exciting”.
Box Hill Hawks Coach, Damian Carroll praised the 2011 Captain saying, “Gibbo has really impressed me with his strong leadership skills and his ability to relate to both the younger players and the more experienced in our group, which is vital in the VFL. His form over the past few seasons has been first rate and he has stamped himself as a big name within the VFL.”
Gibson has had a stellar year so far in season 2011 amassing over 25 disposals per game. It’s what he also does off the ball, the blocks, the one-percenters and his leadership on and off the ground.
Gibson is a graduate engineer and although he feels the occasional pang of the dream of playing AFL football, his priority has been leading the Box Hill Hawks in season 2011. But is the dream really over? Gibson has been talked about as a possible ready made AFL player for season 2012 and beyond.
Box Hill has had a great history of having players recruited to the AFL over the last couple of years. Sam Isles (Gold Coast Suns), Lukas Markovic (Western Bulldogs),
Cam Pedersen (North Melbourne), Robbie Campbell (Melbourne) and Ed Curnow (Carlton). Could we see Sam Gibson as the next mature-aged player from the Box Hill Hawks recruited into AFL ranks ?
Gibson is the first Box Hill player to reach the 100-game milestone since Matthew Ball in 2007 and only the second after Ball as a Box Hill Hawk since the alignment with the Hawthorn Football Club. He is a very unassuming, quality club person with an incredible work ethic on and off the field.
Look for Sam to once again lead his club against Sandringham in an effort to see the Hawks sneak into eighth position and finals. Should the Box Hill Hawks make it, they could do some damage and as always will be superbly led by their Captain and Life Member, Sam Gibson.
Last Modified on 10/08/2011 18:01