To say Luke Murfitt-Cowen is enjoying life at Longford would be quite an understatement.
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The key forward, who celebrates his 24th birthday on Saturday, has kicked 68 goals in 10 games, fitting right into Longford's football club and the community, describing it as "easily the best club I've been a part of".
Playing junior, development league and senior football at Clarence before moving to Old Scholars side Hutchins, Murfitt-Cowen has been impressed by the NTFA's quality.
"It's a lot better than Old Scholars and I've told my mates down there that - whether they believe me or not," he said.
"There's a difference I find, even in just crowds, you play for communities up here whereas down South there's a lot of teams, a lot of comps.
You really notice it, walking down the street and people are saying g'day.
- Luke Murfitt-Cowen on the Longford community.
"It's different playing for a community, everyone comes here on a Saturday [because] what else do you do in Longford on a Saturday?
"Even at other clubs, you see the respect other communities and other supporters have ... you go to another ground and you can hear the crowd - it's good."
Moving to the North of the state for work reasons, Murfitt-Cowen, who was best on ground and premiership captain in the 2017 development league decider, credited coach Beau Thorp for choosing Longford.
The pair grew up around each other thanks to a family connection, making the choice an easier one.
"It made it a lot easier because obviously it's daunting going to a new footy club and you've got to create new connections and things like that," he said.
"I did play school footy against a lot of the boys up here ... so I did know some people but coming to the club it was quite an easy transition."
The league's leading goalkicker was joined by ex-TSL quartet Liam Davies, Jaidyn Harris, Connor Pearton and James Gillow as fellow recruits making the transition to the club.
Having always played up forward, Murfitt-Cowen admitted he hasn't had a start to a season like this, booting double-figure hauls twice against George Town and once against Hillwood.
But he knows how hard his midfielders and fellow forwards work, saying he is "blessed by the way we play".
"Some people from the outside might see my name and I kicked goals and think that's it, whereas it's not," he said.
"We've got a very, very talented forward line, James Gillow is an absolute superstar, Mitch Bennett is a superstar and then we've got our small forwards like Josh Gray and Lachie Dakin - they are taking a lot of pressure off me.
"Our midfield is just getting better and better, Liam Davies is a gun, I've obviously never seen him play [before this year] but he's a superstar kick."
Having battled hip, ankle and knee injuries in the past, the forward is firing on all cylinders now but said he's unsure how long he'll play.
Longford's culture and current on-field success could keep him in the black and yellow for longer than expected though, with the side to retain its top-of-the-ladder position despite having the bye this week.
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
