BY MICHAEL ESPOSITO
THERE was plenty of talk at the WRFL’s presentation night about young players who have the ability to play at a higher level.
The talent’s there, it all depends on the commitment it takes to play at the next level.
Werribee Football Club has for years developed pathways for promising young WRFL footballers with its Dale Morris squad, which was essentially the WRFL’s under-18 inter-league team.
The club recently established a variation on this squad, the Barlow Morris squad, named after former Werribee players Michael Barlow and Dale Morris, who have since gone onto AFL footy.
The Tigers are inviting two players aged 18-22 from every senior WRFL club to train with Werribee during pre-season, to see if they have what it takes to play VFL footy.
Werribee’s community development manager Chris Gallagher said the talent coming out of the WRFL was as good as it’s ever been. You only have to look at the players feeding the Western Jets side, as well as young WRFL stars such as Shaydon Bloomfield and Todd Finco, to see that there was scope for more western region players to give the VFL a shake.
“The Western Jets have done a lot better than they’ve done in previous years so there’s definitely potential coming out of the WRFL,” Gallagher said.
“We’ve just been looking at our program and thinking there’s a chance to further develop these kids over the pre-season and see how they go up against our contracted players, and see if any of them are good enough to come on the list over our pre-season.”
The WRFL invitees will train with the Werribee squad, with cut off periods likely to be every two to three weeks. Some will be given the opportunity to land a contract before the start of the next season.
Training will include draft-type testing such as a beep test, sprints and skinfolds, strength and conditioning training, rehabilitation and recovery, and diet and nutrition education.
Werribee Football invest heavily in the WRFL under-18 competition, forging close links with inter-league coaches and monitoring performances in home-and-away and inter-league matches.
