Riley Leonard: Werris Creek's young lock is having a statement season

In a spluttering Magpies season, young lock Riley Leonard has emerged as a positive - and as a prime example of the club's bid to promote young talent.

Now in his second season of first grade, Leonard turned 19 in March and, according to Magpies coach Cody Tickle, has "sort of just realised how big of a body he can be".

"He's been killin' it," Tickle said.

Leonard has used his 190cm, 105kg frame to score five tries this year. And Tickle said "the stuff we've been working on in training is really starting to show in his ball running".

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"I think he's been pretty damaging, and he's definitely been one of our best this year," the mentor added.

Leonard is the younger brother of fellow Magpies first-grader Zack Leonard. Their father, Jason, is club president.

"He's a local Creek boy," Tickle said of the teen. "I've known him all my life.

"He runs the ball hard, and he's very coachable. I think we're getting the best of him, down there at Werris Creek, at the moment."

That being said, Tickle did not want "to pump his tyres up to much" - and Leonard, himself, was not interested in self-promotion.

"I'm trying my hardest to hold my starting spot in the team," he said, adding that he is "learning off the senior players each week and trying my best for the team".

Werris Creek are coming off a 42-10 home loss to second-placed Dungowan last week, which included the red-hot Cowboys scoring five unanswered tries in an 18-minute first-half period. It was the eight-placed Magpies' seventh loss this season, against three wins.

Tickle said the Magpies - who host fourth-placed Moree on Saturday - were a young side who could be "a little bit inconsistent at times".

"There's kids right across our footy club that have got pretty good footy in them. It's our job to get it out of them," the player-coach said.

He continued: "We're just looking to play some good footy, and the results will turn our way once we do things right for a longer period of time."

Elsewhere, Dungowan host fifth-placed Boggabri on Saturday.

On Sunday, sixth-placed Narrabri travel to seventh-placed Gunnedah, and third-placed Kootingal-Moonbi host a last-placed Manilla who are still searching for win No 1 their return top-grade season.

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