Aaron King: Quirindi cricket captain a proud champion of his hometown

In a year in which he mourned the loss of his grandmother, Betty, the 31-year-old is playing a significant role in what looks distinctively like a Quirindi sporting renaissance.

And on Sunday in his hometown, King will lead Quirindi against Central North Colts in a Connolly Cup clash at Longfield Park - a week after he untethered his emotions following a breakthrough defeat of Tamworth.

His post-match interview with the Leader was a distillation of what it means to be a proud Quirindi local, and followed the Quirindi Lions' emergence as a force this year.

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"That's 100 per cent," King replied when asked if his emotional response to beating Tamworth was linked to his love of Quirindi.

He explained: "Not hearing of a Quirindi side winning many games against the Tamworth-based sides, in whatever sport, certainly makes me proud that we're a team that can, hopefully, start bucking the [trend]."

After a number of years in the wilderness, Quirindi re-entered the Connolly Cup three seasons ago. King praised Brendon Matthews for the work he did as captain in that first season back.

King has captained the team the past two seasons.

The defeat of Tamworth was Quirindi's first win over a side, other than Peel Valley, since returning to the comp.

"It's just been slowly building, getting a couple more pieces into the side," King said of Quirindi's fortunes. "Now, I really feel like we've got not just a good chance to make the finals, but a good chance to actually go all the way.

"We've certainly got the skill this year, and everybody is focused on giving it a red-hot go."

In the past, King has periodically lived elsewhere - like when he did a degree in criminal justice at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst. But his deep connection with Quirindi meant he always returned home.

He started uni in his mid-20s - after first getting "a bit of life experience", as he put it. His graduation was attended by his father, Wayne, and was the proudest day of his life.

King, who is single, currently works in disability support in Tamworth - commuting there from his hometown. He is eyeing a job at the Department of Criminal Justice in Tamworth.

Being a Quirindi local, he said, was about saying hello to people when you passed them on the street.

"It's just being a decent human being, is the basic way of putting it," he added. "Everybody cares about each other if something goes wrong; we're a town where we can get behind each other."

King said the past two years in Quirindi "hasn't been great" due to COVID-19. However, "you're starting to see a lot more cars down the main street, a couple of places are opening up again properly, and it's just really good to see that we've somehow worked through it and we're coming out the other side."

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