AFL wrap: Bombers sign top-ups, Reilly goes home
With the AFL pre-season reaching the home stretch, here’s a wrap of the latest AFL news.
Bombers sign top-up players
Essendon have started to recruit top-up talent for the AFL pre-season, with five delisted players agreeing to have a run for the Bombers.
Mitch Brown, Jared Petrenko, Clint Jones, James Magner and Mitch Clisby have all verbally committed to join the club, with list manager Adrian Dodoro expecting them to sign contracts soon.
“These five players have agreed verbally after discussions with the player, their clubs and their player agents,” Dodoro told the club’s website.
“They will come into the club on Thursday to do medical testing, they will go through an induction process and we will treat them like a regular AFL player.
“They still have to tick some boxes before they sign the contract but it appears we are heading down that path with these boys.”
Former St Kilda tagger Jones is the most experienced, having played 149 AFL games including the 2009 and 2010 grand finals.
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Jones, Adelaide small forward Petrenko, Geelong key forward Brown and Melbourne’s Clisby were all delisted by their respective AFL clubs at the end of the 2014 season.
Magner played 19 games for the Demons, but was shown the door at the end of their miserable 2013 campaign.
Essendon’s pre-season campaign starts on March 7, when they face St Kilda in Morwell.
The 25 players who were at Essendon during the 2012 season are sitting out the NAB Challenge to protect the anonymity of those players provisionally suspended following ASADA’s probe.
Of those, it is understood about 18 are facing charges at the anti-doping tribunal, which is now considering its verdict.
The charged players are not playing in the pre-season in case they are found guilty and face suspension.
Sitting out the NAB Challenge means they protect potential back-dated suspensions, which would start when they were charged late last year.
Western Bulldogs have confirmed forward Stewart Crameri, who left the Bombers after the 2013 season, will miss the first two rounds of the pre-season competition.
Reilly goes home
The Adelaide Crows are still uncertain if Brent Reilly will play again as the AFL defender leaves hospital following surgery on a fractured skull.
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Reilly, injured in a training accident eight days ago, was released from hospital on Tuesday.
His teammate Sam Kerridge says Reilly’s playing future remains an unknown.
“We haven’t really spoken to him about that,” Kerridge told reporters on Tuesday.
“As far as we’re concerned, that is the least of our worries. We are just worried about Brent’s health and his wellbeing, that is the most important thing.”
Reilly, a veteran of 203 AFL games, was progressing well after emergency surgery to repair fractures to the left side of his skull, sustained when accidentally kneed to the head during a match simulation drill.
“He’s in a period now where he just needs to rest up,” Kerridge said.
“We would love to have him back asap but he is just in a time of rest and repair at the moment.”
Martin re-signs with Tigers
Richmond star Dustin Martin has re-signed with the AFL club until the end of 2017.
The two-year deal is a major boost and a big relief for the Tigers.
They had messy negotiations with Martin at the end of 2013 and he looked at other clubs before agreeing to stay at Richmond.
His signing means Alex Rance is the only high-profile Richmond player yet to commit to the club.
– AAP
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