Exciting young talent Josh Toy will play with Essendon's VFL side. Picture: Stephen Harman, Source: HWT Image Library
AFL discards Matthew Bate and Josh Toy will use Essendon's new reserves side as a launching pad as they strive to reignite their stalled careers.
The pair are the Bombers' marquee signings ahead of their inaugural season as a stand-alone VFL club, after senior coach James Hird lit the fuse to break away from the alignment with Bendigo.
Toy, 20, knocked back a one-year contract extension from Gold Coast to return to Victoria, but was overlooked in the draft.
It was revealed in October he had battled congenital heart block, a condition limiting his aerobic capacity.
AFL discards: Where are they now?
The powerful defender was rated as a top-five draft choice before he was snapped up by the Suns as a pre-listed 17-year-old, but he was unable to reach his dazzling potential.
Essendon ran stress tests on Toy during trade period, while he trained with Richmond in the lead-up to the pre-season draft.
"There's no reason why someone of his ability and at his age he couldn't get back in the system," Essendon's VFL general manager Matthew Little told SuperFooty.
"He's got a lot of upside and plenty of time to get back into the system and we think we can help him do that."
Bate, 25, briefly trained with the Western Bulldogs after he was delisted by Melbourne as part of Mark Neeld's major list overhaul.
delisted Demon Matthew Bate. Picture: Loughnan,paul Source: Herald Sun
Little said the Dons targeted the lead-up forward due to his outstanding leadership on and off the field.
"He's going to be really influential for us, developing our culture as a new stand-alone club," he said.
"He's a fantastic player, there's no reason why he shouldn't get back into the AFL system next year and we think we've got the program to help him do that."
The Dons have also snared classy midfielder and former Bendigo captain Ben Duscher as a playing-assisting coach, looking after the onball brigade, and boom 206cm Sandringham ruckman Michael Sikora.
Little said signing a ruckman was a priority, while Duscher is again expected to push for a fairytale AFL listing.
"We're expecting (Duscher) to have a really good year after the pre-season he's had with Essendon and the Western Bulldogs," he said.
SuperFooty Fixture special: We rate Essendon's 2013 draw
The Dons have followed the premiership model set by Geelong and Collingwood in fielding a stand-alone VFL side, a venture which costs about $400,000 but gives total control over player development.
Little said the benefit for the Bombers would be flexibility with the playing list, but stated developing a winning culture would be a key focus.
"Having your own side means you can make decisions on players in terms of positional changes and it also gives you that recruiting aspect, where you can develop players within your own program to see if they can get drafted," he said.
"It offers the Essendon list flexibility and time to play them in a variety of roles and from a VFL perspective, that program of being able to develop them to your game style and to your game plan and with the same facilities AFL players get to use."
The VFL Bombers will play nine home games at Windy Hill this year under the guide of highly-rated development coach Hayden Skipworth.
The Dons are hoping fans will attend double-headers, with a handful of early VFL matches preceding twilight AFL matches in Melbourne.
Richmond and the Western Bulldogs will follow suit and field reserves sides in an expanded VFL competition next season.
Follow Sam Landsberger on Twitter at @SamLandsberger
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Essendon signs Toy and Bate
Dengan url
http://kepadatankey.blogspot.com/2013/01/essendon-signs-toy-and-bate.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Essendon signs Toy and Bate
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar