Left: Werribee defender Brad Mangan is on the radar of AFL clubs. 70272 Picture: DAMIAN VISENTINI
BY MICHAEL ESPOSITO
WERRIBEE backman Brad Mangan has much more belief than he did last year about the prospect of being picked up by an AFL club.
While Mangan has not personally been contacted by any AFL clubs, Werribee has fielded queries from clubs about the 20-year-old, so there is certainly interest in the dogged defender who boosted his credentials with a superb final series.
His finals performances, which included keeping Casey’s Brendan Fevola and WIlliamstown’s Mitch Hahn goalless, were even more impressive considering he tore his quad in the warm-up of the Tigers’ first finals game against Box Hill.
He played through it, but after being eliminated by Williamstown in the preliminary final discovered he had a grade two tear, ruling him out of the AFL state combine.
While not getting his chance to show his wares at the combine, he hopes he has done enough this season to get listed.
“I’m not 100 per cent sure where I sit,” he said. “Obviously there’s a lot of blokes fighting for very few spots.
“In my case, I’m probably a bit more confident than in previous years, due to the fact that you’ve got Greater Western Sydney and the Gold Coast in there now, there’s 100 extra spots up for grabs.”
“To finish off the season like I did was obviously a boost but it’s pretty much like Tattslotto, you’ve got to be lucky enough to have your number called out. “
The feedback Mangan has received from AFL clubs via Werribee is that he needs to improve his fitness to make it at AFL level.
He made a conscious effort to build his tank by following high-endurance players such as Dom Gleeson and Robbie Castello during pre-season, and firmly believes he can build his fitness to the required level if training full-time.
“Personally I think I just need my foot in the door to get a rookie spot where I can get into a five day environment, and the endurance base will come.”
If Mangan does not get picked up in the AFL draft, he will go back to university in Geelong and continue playing for Werribee.
