A spur of the moment decision just a week out from the start of the Group 10 competition saw Trent Hemsworth end a two-year absence from the sport by pulling on the familiar blue and white of St Pat’s. 

He is now loving being back amongst the action.

Curiously, it was an approach from the Orange Hawks at the start of the season that made Hemsworth consider a return after he stepped away from the game at the end of 2010 because of work commitments. But a decade of history ultimately saw him return to Pat’s.

“I’d never really retired, but after two years out of the game and at 32 I thought I might be getting a bit old. I got a call from Hawks to see if I was interested. I’ve been involved with Pat’s for 11 years but I thought with Benjamin John and Brendan Collits, who are two of the best hookers in the competition, they wouldn’t really need me,” Hemsworth said.

“I got in touch with the club and they said if anything, they needed a halfback. Benji had injured his knee but Brendan would be hooker. I haven’t played much halfback at all since under 18s, but I’m getting there.

“It was Hawks who showed the initial interest and I played with Hawks when I first came to Bathurst, so it would have been a good fit, but there would have been a lot of travelling and Pat’s were happy to have me back.”

Hemsworth might be re-establishing himself at halfback but when he left at the end of 2010, he was one of the leading hookers in the competition. 

He was a major reason that Pat’s had won the premiership in 2008 and was part of a Saints team that stormed into the 2010 semi-finals. That outfit then dropped out two matches short of the grand final before Hemsworth’s shock decision to walk away.

“I had work commitments, I’d started a new job and it was pretty hectic, so I made the decision to step away from footy. Later on I left that job and my wife and I purchased Mount Panorama Winery. We’ve been putting a lot of work into that and things are still very busy, but it has allowed me to find the time for football again,” he said.

“I didn’t really miss it too much when I was away. I deliberately didn’t go to too many games or I knew I would. I joined the Grey Halos [the Pat’s Old Boys club] and went to a few games but I found the times I missed it most were when I’d run into the guys at the pub and remember the camaraderie.”

Pat’s have had a solid start to the season, with three wins and two draws from five games. Tomorrow they will travel to Lithgow to take on Workies. Hemsworth is quick to admit his team haven’t played anywhere near their best so far, but he feels there is as much talent as there was in 2008.

“Juddy was a loss, but Zac Merritt has come in and filled that gap and our outside backs are fantastic, so I think it’s every bit as good as the 2008 side. We have two tough games coming up though, against Workies and then Hawks, and they have been the benchmark teams, so I think that will show if we are a semi-final team or capable of more,” he said.

St Pat’s take on Lithgow Workies tomorrow from 1.45pm at Tony Luchetti Sportsground.

ST PAT’S: 1 Josh Downing, 2 AJ Piper, 3 Adam Ryan, 4 Terry Crane, 5 Derryn Clayton, 6 Tim Holman, 7 Trent Hemsworth, 8 Luke Single, 9 Brendan Collits, 10 Zac Merritt, 11 Mick Armstrong, 12 Brent Dennis, 13 Cameron Neville.