Jets prop Mark Appleton out to make mark
Jets prop out to make mark
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Ipswich Jets player Mark Appleton hopes to impress the Gold Coast Titans coaching staff this season.
IPSWICH Jets recruit Mark Appleton is one of a rare club, featuring the likes of former pro golfer Jack Newton and, well, not many others.
That's because very few people get to tangle with an aeroplane propeller and live to tell the tale.
The 21-year-old Dalby product was working as an apprentice aircraft engineer in Canberra in March, 2010, when things didn't go to plan.
"We had a bloke over from Nepal," Appleton said.
"He was struggling with English and we were doing a 100 hour inspection of a Cessna 172.
"I was showing him how.
"There was a miscommunication.
"He thought I must have been ready.
"I was standing in the wrong spot."
Now living in Newtown, Appleton has the impressive scar to show for his close shave.
Fortunately the propeller was not moving with enough force to crack his skull and he was back playing football soon after.
Appleton spent last season travelling between Canberra, where he would train with the Raiders' top squad, and Brisbane, where he was flown each weekend to play for Raiders' feeder club Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup.
It must have been frustrating but Appleton accepts it as the life of a young player trying to prove himself.
"It is part of the game really," he said.
"The travel part of it - you get used to it.
"I'm still a young front rower."
After three years with the Raiders and to Appleton's disappointment, Canberra chose not to offer him a new contract. So Appleton began contacting other clubs and was offered a chance to join the Titans for pre-season training.
"I was after a first grade contract and they gave me a pre-season contract," he said.
It was a big incentive for Appleton to make his mark under the eye of Gold Coast head coach John Cartwright.
Word from above is the Titans were impressed by his attitude and will keenly watch his efforts for the Jets.
"They said they'd keep an eye on me," said Appleton, who could pass for the Aussie brother of South Sydney's English front rower Sam Burgess.
"It was awesome," he said.
"It was tough. A full-on start.
"But it gets you up to speed."
It has also given him confidence he can make a significant contribution to the Jets' 2012 charge.
"I'm just going to bust my backside here now," he said as he prepared for training in 35 degree heat on Monday.
"Play some good footy and try to set myself up for a couple of good seasons to come.
"I like it (with the Jets).
"The coaching staff is good and the drills are all footy-focused."
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