The 18-year-old midfielder has tried to model his game on the Saints star since beginning his own career playing junior and senior football at Winnaleah.

The apprentice builder joined the Northern Bombers in 2012 after being part of Winnaleah’s NEFU senior premiership in 2011 as a 14-year-old.

‘‘I live and work in Launceston now and I’ve been playing senior footy at North all of last year and this year,’’ Mullins said.

‘‘I think I’ve struggled a bit for form but in the past three weeks I’ve started to hit some good form at the right time of the year.

‘‘I thought last week against Launceston was one of my best games for the club and I managed to get my hands on the ball and played pretty much full-time in the midfield.’’

Mullins has played with the Tassie Mariners for the past two years and was part of the state’s division 2 championship win in 2013.

‘‘I’ve enjoyed playing at the highest level in State League with North and hopefully we can play finals this year and get a bit of experience there,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s pretty exciting at North and I think in the next couple of years we can go pretty well if the boys stick together and I certainly want to stay around and be part of it.’’