Hit-out king: Meet the ruck recruit taking Hampden league by storm

The Bombers' ruck recruit, 24, is fast endearing himself to teammates and spectators as one of the competition's premier big men.

In fact, the Melbourne-based footballer's hit-out average of 60 from three games is the highest in the competition across the opening four rounds.

Auckland, who has experience in the SANFL with Adelaide and Central District, is "loving" life as a Bomber.

"All the guys down there and all the locals have been super, super welcoming, made me feel really at home," he told The Standard.

"And it's been really nice to play with Brody (Mahoney) again as well."

Mahoney, Cobden's playing coach, was responsible for the star ruckman landing at the Bombers.

The pair was housemates and played together at Central District in 2019 and have remained in touch ever since.

For ruckmen, developing a connection with new teammates on the field can be a slow process.

Auckland is grateful to have a high-quality, established midfield group around him to ease the transition.

"I think we have one of the best, if not the best, midfield in the comp, working with Patty (Smith), Brodes (Mahony), Watto (Dan Watson) and Gus (Angus Uwland as well)," he said.

"It does take a bit of time to build that connection but they've done a lot of work with me while I've been down to take me through all the hit-zones and they're always really good communication-wise as well.

"So I've been pretty lucky to slot into that midfield group to be honest."

The Bombers, seen as a contender in 2024, have started the season strongly with three wins from four games.

The side suffered its first loss on Saturday, April 27 - a 7.12 (54) to 4.8 (32) defeat at the hands of Port Fairy.

Auckland conceded it was a "tough loss" but is bullish about the remainder of the campaign.

"Like I said before the boys have been so welcoming towards me and I think everyone's on the same page and everyone's just really, really looking forward to working together and getting some more wins," he said.

"It has been a good start but I do think we've got another level that we can go to as a group and I do think all the boys are pretty committed to get there as well."

Auckland, whose home club in Tasmania was Launceston, spent time in the Tassie Mariners' junior representative program under some "great coaches".

He credits the Mariners, especially former ruck coach Mitch Hills, for shaping him into the footballer he is today.

The Bombers' recruit moved to Melbourne for study in 2020 and currently lives in Fitzroy and works as a removalist a few days a week.

He lined up for VAFA team Old Geelong in 2021 before a season with Tooleybuc-Manangatang in the Central Murray League last year.

Auckland has no issue making the commute to south-west Victoria every week for Cobden games.

"I go down on Fridays with Daniel Watson and his family's been so, so kind to me, putting me up and welcoming me to stay every Friday," he said.

"We just head down when he finishes work. It's honestly been a breeze, we stay down when there's functions or anything on and if we need to come back up to Melbourne from Cobden we can be back up by 7, 7.30pm after the game."