North Coast century-maker

This article and photo first appeared in the Port Macquarie News

It’s been a stellar career for Schmidt in the black and white after joining the club as a 13-year-old.

He won last year’s North Coast AFL best and fairest, as well as three of the last four Port Macquarie awards.

Club president Craig Carroll said Schmidt was a well-respected member of the NCAFL community.

“Jesse has proven an outstanding talent and we’re very proud to promote him as a product of the Magpies development program,” he said.

“Not surprisingly, his exceptional achievements reflect the commitment he makes to his game and his fitness.”

Schmidt said the milestone was a great achievement but had more important things on his mind.

“We have a finals series coming up and while playing the 100th will be great, I know, and the rest of the players know how big this game is, so we’ll be concentrating on getting the win,” he said.

The game is part of a new NCAFL Super Saturday initiative bringing all the club together for gala day of football.

The Magpies will face off against last year’s premier Grafton – a side they lost to in round nine.

However a thumping 100-point victory over the Tigers on home soil in round four should give Pies confidence.

A win this weekend would all but secure the top spot and a double shot at making the grand final.

Coach Scott Abercrombie said the playing group needed to concentrate on the game at hand – not finals.

“We need to put all of the talk about finals out of our heads,” he said.

“If we concentrate on this game, the rest will take care of itself.”