For North Launceston veteran Jack Avent, Saturday's lockdown midfield role was more reviving a lost art than starting a new trade.
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Sent to lock horns with Tigers star Kieran Lovell, Avent did his job and more by keeping the ex-Hawk to two goals and 21 touches while amassing 35 of his own.
While the 27-year-old has been known as a reliable small defender for much of his 156-game career, he has also had plenty of experience tagging and could be employed as such again following Saturday's best-on-ground showing.
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"It was a good change-up - we'll see what happens next week," said Avent, who is originally from Victoria.
"If Taylor [Whitford] wants me to be a tagger I'm all for it, I love the challenge, but we'll just see where it goes from here.
"When I first started playing seniors [former coach] Zane Littlejohn used me as a tagger a fair bit so it's not new to me - I just eventually got down back.
"I feel a lot more comfortable down back, but being around the ball you feel a lot more in the game.
"That's where it starts so I feel like you can have more impact in the centre."
Since arriving from the Lilydale under-16s, Avent has become one of North Launceston's most decorated players.
The glazier sits alongside Whitford and Brad Cox-Goodyer as the only three Bombers to have played in all five flags between 2014 and 2019 and still looks to have many years of good football ahead.
"It's gone extremely quick," Avent said of his decade-long stint at UTAS Stadium.
"Obviously there's a lot of great memories in there and so many great people that have come through those years.
"To be part of a special group like that it's pretty unheard of, it's something special and something I reckon I'll probably appreciate a bit more down the track."
The Northern Bombers' next test is an away trip to Glenorchy, who have found form with consecutive victories over Kingborough and North Hobart.
North Launceston also started slowly but has fired in the past two weeks with commanding wins over Lauderdale and Kingborough.
"Obviously we started out a bit slow - with COVID it was a bit hard to get everything sorted early, but we're starting to get a few things in place and play the footy that we want," Avent said.
"There's still a lot of things we want to work on and put in place but I think we're heading in the right direction - I'm keen for later in the year."
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