Cody Stackelberg was the latest debutant for the Aspley Hornets NEAFL team this year. Originally a former Aspley Hornets and Sandgate Junior, Stackelberg is an up and coming star who has been involved with the Brisbane Lions Academies and Junior State teams. He was lucky enough to play his first game for the Hornets alongside his older brother Conner who was re-called into the side for the first time for the 2018 season.
At only 17 years of age, Cody is familiar with Senior football after playing with Sandgate’s QAFL team for the past 2 seasons.
His NEAFL debut couldn’t have been much tougher with the match against an undefeated Sydney University team. NEAFL Head Coach John Blair commented on Stacklbergs first game “It was great to see one of our local junior players get the opportunity to play with us. For a young player Cody gave us a good strong body in the forward line and his pressure and tackling ability is something that will be a great strength moving forward. He has the ability to go into the midfield if we need him to and as he grows and develops more we see him being a real contested ball winner. We look forward to helping continue to create a pathway that allows players like Cody play as high a level of football has possible.”
When asked about how it felt to debut for the Hornets, Cody responded “the speed of the game was a bit quicker then what I’m used to but I really enjoyed the challenge. It was great to be able to play alongside my brother for my first game. From here I’m just hoping to be able to keep my spot in the team and continue to play at the highest level I can.”
We congratulate Cody on his first of hopefully many games for the Brown and Gold.