TSL: Jay Foon to captain North Launceston in 2021

Two months after captain Brad Cox-Goodyer succeeded Taylor Whitford as coach, 2020 vice-captain Jay Foon has been appointed the Bombers' new skipper.

A 25-year-old electrician and three-time premiership player, Foon received the news via a call from his new coach.

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"Brad just called me the other night ... basically I've been the vice-captain the last few years so he put it to the group," Foon said.

"As long as they're happy with me in the role, Brad said it was a no-brainer to give the vice-captain the opportunity to captain the side.

"I was pretty excited - obviously it's a very good experience to be able to captain a footy side such as North Launny - [the club's] very successful and has got a good history so it's something I'm looking forward to for sure."

North Launceston has played in each of the past seven TSL grand finals and came within 15 minutes of winning a fourth-straight flag in 2020.

The Bombers enter 2021 without two of the competition's best midfielders in Whitford and Josh Ponting, but boast plenty of other options including experienced defenders Foon and Jack Avent, who both spent time in the middle last season.

The club's development league side is also brimming with talented youngsters ready to make their names at senior level.

"There's no reason why we shouldn't be very competitive again - we've got a good list of senior guys and some good younger fellas coming through so hopefully we're competitive and go well," Foon said.

"It was a long 12 months with COVID so we've had a bit of a shorter pre-season but we should get enough training in to put us in good stead for this year.

"We've got a couple of good kids coming through - we ran a 2km time trial the other night and Will Manshanden won that, so he's a young kid you might see throughout the season but there's plenty more types like him that will probably feature in the senor side at some point."

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A member of the 2015, 2017 and 2019 flag teams, Foon missed out on the 2014 and 2018 premierships with a broken leg and neck injury respectively.

Since debuting as a 17-year-old in 2012, he has racked up more than 100 senior games and has, according to his new coach, blossomed as a leader in recent seasons.

"His development over the past couple of years has been astronomical, it's skyrocketed and last year especially he took a massive step forward," Cox-Goodyer said.

"For someone who's unfortunately missed out on two winning grand finals through injury, for him to continually stick at it and grow, he's got a lot of respect from the players and I think he'll grow a lot more now he's got that title.

"It's really exciting - he's been a North Launceston player the whole way through his football career, he hasn't played anywhere else so once again we've grown our own and it's exciting to be able to do that."