North Launceston's Jake Laskey impressing in maiden TSL year

Playing his fifth game in North Launceston colours, the 26-year-old collected a half-volley in the forward pocket and turned two Launceston defenders inside out before calmly slotting a goal from 40m.

He finished the game with five marks - including four inside 50 - and could have kicked more than his game-high 2.2 on another night.

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Crediting the delivery of his midfielders for his impressive showing, the former St Pats coach and South Launceston premiership forward said he was beginning to feel at home at State League level.

"It is quite a step up into the big boys' league really," Laskey said.

"I haven't played a great deal of State League footy but I'm slowly starting to find my feet I feel.

"I started in the D-League and obviously that would be quicker than the recent footy I've played and then up into seniors.

"The speed of the game is obviously a lot quicker and you don't has as much time with the footy as in NTFA.

"Just finding out what you can and can't do is probably the biggest thing and I'm slowly starting to understand what I can get away with and what I can't."

A top-three finisher in last season's division one goalkicking, Laskey was one of three St Pats players to wind up at State League club following the COVID break.

Another former Saints coach, Alex Russell, took up an assistant role at the Blues while classy defender Julian James made his Launceston debut as a late inclusion on Wednesday.

Laskey says he was surprised but not shocked to find himself being manned by his former teammate.

"He's a good footballer so I knew he'd play seniors soon enough, but I didn't realise it was his debut this week," he said.

"I've gone from coaching Jules to playing on him - it was good, I knew his his strengths as he probably knew mine.

"He's a terrific fella Jules so I enjoyed playing on him in his debut."

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If his past few games and coach Taylor Whitford are anything to go by, Laskey could feature in North's forward line for years to come.

"He's starting to get the feel and pace of TSL footy and we hope his trajectory keeps going and he keeps going better," Whitford said.

"We rate him really really highly, we're lucky to get him on board and I think he's going to play a big role for us in the back half of the year."