BY MICHAEL ESPOSITO
IT’S the moment of truth for VFL footballers looking to land an AFL contract, with this morning’s rookie draft to make some dreams come true while shattering others.
Werribee Football Club has spruiked the prospects of several players, including Matthew O’Dwyer, Travis Tuck and Kyle Hartigan.
But the two biggest chances seem to be Brad Mangan and Sean Tighe, who have been training with North Melbourne (Werribee’s AFL affiliate).
Will Martinello was also invited to train with North Melbourne but couldn’t due to an injured ankle.
Werribee CEO Mark Penaluna said several AFL club have shown interest in Mangan and Tighe, both of whom he believed would make worthy additions to an AFL club.
“North Melbourne can see what I believe several other clubs are looking at with both Brad and Sean,” he said.
“They’ve got the attitude and the willingness to learn to play at the highest level. They’ve got the maturity to deal with all those sorts of factors, they both can play either end of the ground, and even Sean can play somewhat in the ruck and the wing.
“For someone to be 197cm to be able to do those sorts of things are pretty difficulty to find.”
Tighe, a backman who can kick goals, and Mangan, a defender who outplayed direct opponents Brendan Fevola and Mitch Hahn during this year’s VFL finals series, both aged 20, have had impressive seasons for the Tigers this year.
Mangan, who was considered unlucky not to get drafted from TAC Cup side Murray Bushrangers in 2009, had overcome a jaw injury last year to play almost every game, including three finals games with a torn quad, which forced him to miss the AFL State Combine.
Penaluna praised Mangan’s dogged persistence to keep his AFL dream alive.
“He came down from Kyabram, he knew one other guy at the club, found somewhere to live, got a job, and to move away from mum and dad, to leave his mates at Kyabram where he played in a grand final that year just shows the maturity and that he wants to play at the best level he can.”
