Western Jets co-captain Luke Hitch is rising to the challenge of his leadership role with the TAC Cup club.
Hitch reckons the key to being a good leader is sharing “good habits” with his teammates.
The 18-year-old was taught the right way to approach his football by his dad, Greg, a former Footscray reserves player, local club Keilor, school Maribyrnong College and Jets coach Torin Baker.
Hitch has been involved with good people and organisations throughout his junior football career, and it has helped shape him as a leader.
Hitch was voted in by his Jets peers as a co-captain with teammate Nick Stuhdreier over the summer and it meant a lot to the young midfielder.
“It’s obviously a privilege to have been voted in by the boys,” Hitch said.
“We worked really hard over the preseason and earned the respect of the boys.
“It’s good that I think we’ve both got that role together.”
Hitch demonstrates his leadership best in the heat of the battle.
The lead-by-example operator is both ferocious in his attack on the contest as an inside midfielder and committed to the defensive acts that are so valued in the modern game.
“How I play my football is how I show my leadership best,” Hitch said.
“I always put my best foot forward.”
Hitch likes to get in and under the packs.
His best work so far this season has been at the coal face, dishing out to the Jets runners by hand.
The defensive side of his game has improved exponentially in the past two seasons.
The Cairnlea resident has racked up a massive 26 tackles over the opening three rounds of the season.
Hitch says a move to defence in his bottom-age year helped him strengthen his defence. “Torin said to me last season, if you want to get the most out of the season and play as many games as you can, we’re going to work on your defensive role and that’s something that I wanted to do as well,” Hitch said.
“I started as a midfielder and have played in the midfield pretty much my whole life, so playing defence was something I was a bit foreign to, but once I went through a lot of training and worked on it real hard, it’s something that has built up for me and I’m taking a bit of that mindset into the midfield as well.
“I’m quite an inside player, I like to get a lot of my own footy, but if there is a tackling opportunity, I’ll always give it my best crack.
“I get some high [tackle] numbers now, but I think that’s just because I’m trying to get around the ball as much as I can.”
Hitch was part of Vic Metro’s extended squad.
He played in the exhibition game but missed the final cut. “I got to know a lot of the boys throughout the competition, so it was a great experience.
“Now I’m super focused on playing for the Jets this year.
“I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how the season unfolds.”
