After unearthing a trio of burgeoning AFL prospects in recent years, Pomona has produced yet another rising star.
Talented teenager Aaron Laskey is the latest in a line of players to emerge from the small heritage town's junior ranks.
After a four-month stint with the Gold Coast Suns during the pre-season, the midfielder was named this week in the Queensland under-18 squad to contest the national championships.
“I was with Pomona Demons for three, four years,'' Laskey said yesterday.
“Alik Magin and Jake Crawford (Gold Coast Suns) and Rhys Magin (formerly Essendon) – there are a heap of them that have come from Pomona.
“It's pretty funny how that's happened, isn't it.
"I suppose as a young team we always played pretty good footy together.”
Although Laskey learned his trade in the hills, he further developed his skills at Noosa, where he broke into the senior ranks with the Tigers.
“At the end of last season I played with the Noosa seniors and we won the Pineapple Hotel Cup grand final,'' he said.
“I was a 16-year-old, so that probably caught their (selectors) attention a bit.
“After that I was asked to come and do a pre-season with the Gold Coast Suns.”
The gruelling training stint with AFL's newest franchise has prepared Laskey for a breakthrough season.
“I loved every minute of it,” he said.
“It was so professional.
"As soon as you wake up each day you're down at the beach doing rehab and then you're up in the gym and then out doing a two-and-a-half hour skills session and then weights later on in the day.
"You get home and then do it all again the next day,” Laskey said.
It provided him with a chance to rub shoulders with some of the idols of the game.
“I talked to Gary Ablett Jnr a few times and he was really good.
"With my footy style – I'm a shorter player – he just gave me really good advice.
"He's a similar size and helped me out a fair bit with body control and stuff like that.”
At 181cm and 80kg, Laskey is making up for his slighter frame with crafty displays in the centre.
“The tall guys have got the athleticism and will always take a good mark, so smaller blokes like me need to get the ball and move it around well,” he said.
Laskey's leadership skills are evident. He was captain of the Brisbane team that beat the Gold Coast by eight points in a recent under-18 state team trial.
Now in the under-18 Queensland team for the second year running and also training with Aspley, Laskey is making up to five trips to Brisbane a week and looking for prospective sponsors.
He has his sights on an AFL career.
“That's what I'm aiming for, but my next goal is the national carnival with the Queensland team,” he said.
“We've got a really good team, so I'm hoping to have a good carnival and we'll see what happens from there.
“I'd like to go in to the AFL draft and, hopefully, get picked up.
"I'd love to go to Collingwood and Gold Coast but really, if anyone wanted me I'd be as keen as.”
Article written by Steele Taylor for the Sunshine Coast Daily.
Last Modified on 29/04/2011 16:06