Basketball: Rhys Chillingworth discusses Thunderbolts return ahead of Newcastle clash

The lifelong athlete, who grew up playing basketball before making the switch to AFL when the COVID-19 pandemic began, had sat out the majority of the last two years with injury and didn't want to risk his livelihood as a carpenter by getting hurt again.

That is, until he went to watch the Tamworth Thunderbolts play.

"I wasn't going to play sport at all this year," Chillingworth said.

"And then I went along and watched Tamworth play Blacktown at home. I just couldn't help but see it like I couldn't contribute in some way."

The Thunderbolts' agonising 77-70 defeat in that game spurred Chillingworth to don the blue jersey again for the first time in four years.

The 27-year-old spent most of his life representing Tamworth throughout the age groups, and was a member of the 2019 side that lost to Canberra in the grand final.

However, when the pandemic forced the state league competition to be cancelled, it was his partner, Madison Sharpe, who encouraged him to join the Tamworth Swans and give Aussie Rules a try.

"She's the captain of the Swans' girls team," Chillingworth said.

"We started dating in 2019, and once news came through of the basketball getting cancelled in 2020, the AFL still had a competition, so I thought 'Why not give that a try?'"

And while he enjoyed his time as a ruckman and tall forward for the Swans, Chillingworth spent much of 2021 and 2022 out with two injuries. The first was a torn meniscus, which required surgery, and the following year he hurt his hand in what was originally thought to be a break.

"I didn't break my thumb, but that was the initial diagnosis and that scared me. I sat last year out, because of my work I couldn't afford to be injured," he said.

AFL's 360-degree nature and higher-impact gameplay proved too great a risk to Chillingworth's income, and while basketball is certainly not easy on the body either, he feels better able to handle the more lateral style of movement required.

And now, as the second-oldest of the Thunderbolts' players, he looks forward to playing a mentorship role within the exceptionally young squad.

"It reminds me of when I came in," Chillingworth said.

"I'd just finished high school and I was the youngest one in the team, surrounded by older, more experienced guys ... I had blokes like Chris Skilton and David Bourke who I played alongside. They were the older blokes, and hopefully I can take what I learned from them and show these younger blokes the way that Tamworth can play and used to play."

With the side preparing to play the Newcastle Falcons on Saturday in Newcastle, coach Kane Butler expects "huge things" from him.

"There's a reason why he was All Star Five in his last season of state league," Butler said of Chillingworth.

"He's got the potential to do that again."

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