This year was the first time the Rochester Under-18s footballer had been coached by his dad, a scenario which agreed with him as he claimed the league goalkicking title with 47 for the season.
“It was a bit weird at the start,” he said of hearing his father use a disciplinary tone to him and his teammates.
GVL UNDER-18 GOALKICKING
Tobie Woodfine (Rochester)....................47
Archie Storer (Mansfield) ........................39
Makai Cronin (Echuca).............................34
Flynn Tonks (Shepp Swans)....................34
Tom Riley (Benalla)................................ 29
Mitchell Serra (Shepp United).................29
Bailey White (Kyabram)...........................27
Disciplining teenage boys is nothing new for Todd Woodfine; he is acting principal of Rushworth Secondary College and a lifelong school teacher.
But Woodfine has never had interaction with his father at either school or in a sporting format, in fact, they were doubles partners on the tennis court last season and are more teammates than coach and player.
“He has managed to avoid me at school and until this year had always only been on the sidelines,’’ Woodfine said.
“He doesn’t raise his voice a lot, so I found the different tone of his voice a little strange initially.’’
Woodfine started the season at half-forward, before his father informed him he would be stepping up to the full forward role.
The results were immediate — he kicked four goals in round two and then rarely missed for the remainder of his 12 games.
His 47 goals for the season came after he kicked a season-high six against Benalla, twice kicked five (including against second-ranked Shepparton) and helped himself to five bags of four.
He finished eight goals clear at the top of the goalkicking table, despite his team finishing two games outside the top six with six wins for the season.
He only played two reserve grade games for the season after being knocked unconscious in round six against Tatura.
He returned to bolster the numbers of the Tigers in round 16 and kicked two of the team’s nine goals.
Unlike several of his teammates, the teenager (who remains eligible for another season in the Under-18s), did not play at senior level.
“There was a discussion about having a crack in the seniors, but after getting knocked out in that Tatura game it didn’t happen,” Woodfine said.
Woodfine broke his ankle in a 2022 reserves game and missed a big chunk of the season as a result.
He said he was comfortable with his father’s advice about waiting to test himself at the top level.
The under-age Tigers showed their potential in the latter stages of the season when several of the teenagers trialled at senior level returned to the team.
“If we had our full team in each week we would probably be a top-four team,” Woodfine said, explaining the squad lost only half a dozen players and would be strong in 2024.
His father has committed to continuing in the role next year, when the team will lose the likes of Reed Hocking, Declan Pearse and Darby Wileman, all who played a lot of senior football this season.
The Tigers’ bid to rise the ranks of the GVL Under-18 competition may, however, be impacted if their talented players are offered the opportunity to play with Bendigo Pioneers in the Coates Talent League.
Invitations to be involved in preseason with the Pioneers are expected to be delivered to players by the end of September.
The talented Woodfine, who is a strong lead and mark, models his game on that of Collingwood hero Jamie Elliott.
He always attempted to emulate the set shot kicking of the clutch GV product, who was a Euroa junior.
In the meantime, it will be tennis with a much more mellow father in the off-season as the Year 11 student prepares for a new season and his final year of secondary school.
And, now he is accustomed to it, any raised voice in his direction or that of younger sisters Heidi and Amelia won’t come as such a surprise.
