Get to know young Norwood forward Jay Polkinghorne

It’s been a season of high and lows for promising Norwood forward Jay Polkinghorne, who will participate in October’s State Draft Combine in Adelaide. 

Polkinghorne was be one of 14 South Australians invited to the State Combine, while Norwood’s Ned Bowman and Jacob Newton will head to Melbourne for the National Combine.

The invite to the State Combine was a huge reward for Polkinghorne, who’s season was threatened by a pre-season knee injury that sidelined him for more than three months in his most important season of underage football.

“I think it was the first week back from Christmas in the pre season, I sustained a knee injury and had I think 13 or 14 weeks off, missing the first six games of the season,” Polkinghorne said.

“It wasn’t ideal but I can’t really do much about it. It is what it is.

“For me it was just about getting my fitness back. That was probably the main thing, because it was my first pre season, and I did my knee which wasn’t ideal. Then I was looking ahead to the games that I would be playing and, getting excited for that.

“The first couple of games were just fun, I had missed it. It was great to get back out there.”

Polkinghorne – who is from the town of Penong on the Eyre Peninsula – spent the pre season in the SA State Program before his knee injury, but returned to Norwood for six U18 matches on top of school football with Prince Alfred College.

He booted 15 goals from his six U18 games with the Redlegs, including a standout match in Round 12 against South Adelaide at Norwood Oval where he kicked four goals from 16 disposals in the rain, as well as taking a hanger as one of his five contested marks on the day.

“It was just one of those days where everything seems to go your way,” he said.

“I started the season a bit slow, was still a little bit unfit when I returned, and my knee probably wasn’t quite right, but it all came together.

“I knew I was capable, it was just about when it was going to happen, and trying to get to that level as often as possible.”

Between Polkinghorne and his Norwood teammate Ned Bowman who also took a mark of the year contender in Round 3, you’d think the boys had a license from their coach Alex Newell to fly for as many hangers as possible. Polkinghorne assured that wasn’t the case in the pouring rain in Round 12.

“That game, at the start I tried to take a hangar and the runner come out and said ‘don’t fly for it mate, it’s too wet’, and then later in the game, I took a hanger. So yeah, we just fly at whatever we can.”

Later in the season Polkinghorne had a taste of senior football, playing three Reserves matches for Norwood, for a return of five goals.

“It was a good experience, over the school holidays I trained with the seniors all the way through and meeting all the boys was good,” he said.

“It was more professional than I’d trained previously, it was really hard and it was a good standard. And then playing was good. It probably wasn’t as big a step up as I would have thought but there were bigger bodies, and it was a bit different.”

Given his pre season injury, Polkinghorne was proud of his recovery and the reward of being invited to the State Combine.

“At the start of the season I probably wasn’t expecting it really,” he said.

“I just wanted to get out there and play footy, and then probably after that South game I knew that I can still put a good game together.

“I think it was a few weeks after that I got invited, so it’s definitely good news.”

By Josh Teakle NFC