ROOKIE midfielder Andrew Boston was among the shining lights for the NEAFL northern conference team on a disappointing visit to West Adelaide Oval last weekend, as the interstate visitors were unable to claim bragging rights over our South Australian state rivals in their 82-point defeat to the SANFL squad in the State Challenge.

Led by Southport Sharks coach Jason Cotter, the NEAFL side came out swinging against South Australia, with the game all but level as Queenslander trailed by only eight-points heading into the major break.

However the scoreboard pressure in the third quarter proved too much for the NEAFL side, as the South Australians kicked seven goals to widen a deficient too big for the sunshine state to chase down.

For Boston, there were still plenty of positives to take away from the interstate clash, which saw the exciting 18-year-old stand opposite ex-Kangaroo’s forward Matthew Campbell – an experience Boston says he won’t forget in a hurry.

“It was an awesome experience to line-up against an ex-AFL player, so I definitely took a lot away from that,” said Boston.

Gold Coast SUNS reserves coach Shaun Hart told goldcoastfc.om.au Boston well and truly held his own against the  veteran goal-sneak who had built an established reputation around goals in his 82-game AFL career.

“He played on Matthew and he did a pretty good job on him,” said Hart.

“Andrew showed a lot of good composure with the football, in particularly under pressure, and used the ball quite well.

“Defensively he was good also, so it was a good experience for him.”

The promising youngster said adding a more defensive prowess to his game, as he showed against SANFL after relishing in his shut-down role on Campbell, would better his chances of earning a spot on the senior list.

“Definitely playing down back was a great experience for me,” Boston.

“I enjoy playing around the forwardline and through the midfield but in the AFL it doesn’t matter where you play because you always get thrown around in different positions.

“So it’s was good to get a taste down back and hopefully I can build on that because it will definitely help me play better through the midfield and up forward  in the future.”