Josh Schache is a talented 18-year-old footballer who is expected to be drafted second overall by Brisbane Lions. His late father Laurence played for Brisbane in the early 1990s. Josh hopes to continue his father's legacy in the AFL, though he wants to make his own path as well. Josh overcame adversity after his father died of a heart condition when Josh was young. He has worked hard to develop his skills and is now considered one of the top prospects in the upcoming AFL draft.

1. SNFOOTBALL SHEPPARTON NEWS, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2015 25
Great legacy to emulate
TIPPED AS A LIONS PICK, JOSH SCHACHE KNOWS FOOTY FANS MAY WONDER IF HE PLAYS LIKE HIS DAD
By Georgina Cahill
Always a talent: Josh Schache in an under-14 team playing for
home club Seymour. Picture: Wayne Herring
Prized pick: Josh Schache will be one of the first names taken in tonight's AFL draft. Picture: Ray Sizer
Josh Schache remembers
kicking a football with his
father Laurence in the back-
yard of their Adelaide home.
He also more vividly re-
calls the night, when he was
five, his father collapsed.
‘‘I remember sitting in the
lounge room and watching
the ambulance come in with
my nan,’’ Schache said.
‘‘I didn’t know what was
going on, I didn’t know why
they were there.
‘‘I remember I was watch-
ing TV with my Dad in the
lounge room, just me and
him. He went to the toilet
and came back. I went off to
the kitchen and then he col-
lapsed.’’
Three months earlier,
Laurence had been diagno-
sed with a rare, incurable
heart condition called car-
diac amyloidosis. He was
given three years to live, but
died much sooner, aged 32.
Josh started school five
days after his father’s
funeral; his younger sister
Bianca was 13 months old.
Some 13 years later, Josh
is on the verge of continuing
his late father’s legacy at
AFL club Brisbane.
Laurence played for the
Bears from 1991 to 1992 and
booted 64 goals in 29 ga-
mes.
Josh, 18, is a red-hot
favourite to join the Lions
with their first pick, pick
two, at tonight’s AFL Nat-
ional Draft.
He is conscious of his
father’s history in the game,
but is determined to make a
name for himself.
‘‘That was obviously a big
thing for me, I wanted to
grow up and be like him,’’
he said.
‘‘Playing footy was sort of
a way where I could connect
with him.
‘‘I still want to try and
make my own path for
myself and still try and fol-
low in the footsteps of what
he tried to do, play at the
highest level.’’
The stars seem to be
aligning for the talented
teenager — he could wear
his father’s number, 23, at
the Lions.
Matthew Leuenberger
wore the number this year,
but left the club for Essen-
don, as a restricted free
agent, at this season’s end.
Josh has many similarities
to his late father: height, a
strong set of hands and a
competitive nature.
But there is one stark dif-
ference on the football field.
Josh is a left-foot kick,
despite being right-handed,
while Laurence was a right-
foot kick.
He hoped his father would
be looking down on him,
proud.
‘‘He was a big part of my
early life,’’ he said.
‘‘He’s someone I still
think about a lot. Even
though he’s not here, he’s
still with me when I’m play-
ing footy or just doing every-
thing.
‘‘Hopefully he’d be pretty
proud I’m still doing every-
thing that he loved.’’
Josh, Bianca and his
mother Rachel stayed in
Adelaide for three years after
Laurence’s death.
Rachel married Seymour’s
Darren Waite and the family
moved to the Goulburn Val-
ley town when Josh was
eight.
Josh has faced adversity,
but remains a motivated,
happy and modest teenager.
He said his mother had
been a constant support and
a pillar of strength for the
family.
‘‘She’s been very support-
ive for all of us and sewed
everyone together really
well, so I couldn’t thank her
enough for everything that
she’s done,’’ he said.
‘‘She’s definitely provided
us with everything that we
needed.’’
The Murray Bushrangers
key forward grew up playing
all sorts of sports: basket-
ball, cricket, swimming and
tennis.
But footy picked up two
years ago when he was sel-
ected to represent Victoria at
the under-16 National
Championships.
‘‘I was pretty excited to
make the Vic Country team
and didn’t really think that I
would,’’ he said.
‘‘Then after that, having a
good carnival and being sel-
ected in the NAB AFL Acad-
emy squad was a big turning
point. I thought I can actu-
ally do this.’’
Josh starred for Vic Coun-
try at this year’s under-18
National Championships.
He was crowned Larke
medallist for the best player
in division one and broke
Jonathon Patton’s record for
the most goals kicked in the
carnival, 24.
He was simply unstoppa-
ble, but was grounded nine
days later when the Murray
Bushrangers played Dande-
nong Stingrays in round 13
of the TAC Cup.
It meant Schache would
go head-to-head with Vic
Country teammate and his
competition for the No. 1
draft pick Jacob Weitering,
who Josh described as the
best defender in the TAC
Cup.
Josh mostly played on
another Vic Country team-
mate, Kieran Collins, that
day.
But he was uncharacteri-
stically quiet and booted
just one goal in the Bu-
shies’ 31 point loss.
‘‘I thought I was going to
get it a little easier than
what I did at nationals,’’ he
said.
‘‘It was definitely a lot
harder than what nationals
was, playing on him and
Kieran Collins. They’re
both All-Australian defend-
ers.
‘‘That was a hard day and
it was raining as well, so it
didn’t help. Through those
games I realised areas I still
need to work on.’’
Josh has worked incred-
ibly hard this year.
He says his clean and
accurate kicking style is
mostly natural, but when-
ever he had some spare
time, he was at Seymour’s
Kings Park practising.
While the Lions are his
junior club, he did not play
a senior Goulburn Valley
Football League game.
His commitments,
through TAC Cup and the
AFL Academy, have kept
him away from country
football.
‘‘I played one thirds
game last year and I kicked
about 2.6, something bad,’’
he said with a laugh.
He sets high standards
for himself and has mod-
elled his game on Colling-
wood forward Travis Cloke.
Through the academy,
Josh spent a week living
and training with the Pies
premiership player.
He gets excited just recal-
ling the experience.
‘‘It was pretty much the
biggest house I’ve ever
been in. It was like three
storeys, had a lift in there,’’
the Goulburn Valley Gram-
mar School graduate said.
‘‘He was awesome,
though. He looked after me
really well and I got to meet
his family as well.
‘‘It was weird, we were
going out to breakfast with
‘Swanny’ (Dane Swan) and
all that. It was crazy seeing
how he goes about it every
day and what his everyday
life is.’’
There was one bit of
advice that stood out for
Josh.
‘‘One of the things he
said to me was make sure
you’ve got other stuff out-
side of footy,’’ he said.
‘‘Make sure it’s not all
footy. Make sure you’ve got
friends and family that you
see and you really shut off
footy when you’re away
from it, so you don’t get
sick of it. That was some-
thing I took out of it.’’
Josh has plenty of mates
in Seymour, a few in Ade-
laide and several from the
Bushrangers.
He does not brag about
his achievements.
Rather he seems content
to let his actions on the
football field do the talk-
ing.
JOSH SCHACHE PROFILE
Age: 18
Height: 199 cm
Weight: 96 kg
Position: Key forward
Predicted draft pick: Two (Brisbane)
2015 TAC Cup games: 10 (34 goals)
2015 under-18 National Championship
games: Six (24 goals)
2015 achievements: AIS-AFL Academy, Larke
medallist, TAC Cup Team of the Year, All-
Australian