Pre-season draft and rookie draft time today

[am Bays]

They're keeping Gallman too dasher

[Dogwatcher]

Good results for SANFL clubs there - very little impact, except for the Pioneers' Matthew Campbell, and Gavin Hughes from Norwood.

I'm aware of Jacobs and McIntyre - but my impression is they didn't have much of an influence at league level this season, with their best well before them.

Would be disappointing for Heir and Hurley - both handy players. They'll get their shots next season after another year in SANFL company.

[sus]

Good results for SANFL clubs there - very little impact, except for the Pioneers' Matthew Campbell, and Gavin Hughes from Norwood.

I'm aware of Jacobs and McIntyre - but my impression is they didn't have much of an influence at league level this season, with their best well before them.

Would be disappointing for Heir and Hurley - both handy players. They'll get their shots next season after another year in SANFL company.

Campbell wont be missed much IMHO - exceptional pace, ordinary SANFL footballer. Might progress better thru a profesional system though where decision making, etc can be developed.

[BPBRB]

Good results for SANFL clubs there - very little impact, except for the Pioneers' Matthew Campbell, and Gavin Hughes from Norwood.

I'm aware of Jacobs and McIntyre - but my impression is they didn't have much of an influence at league level this season, with their best well before them.

Would be disappointing for Heir and Hurley - both handy players. They'll get their shots next season after another year in SANFL company.

Both were very good. From a North point of view McIntyre was a great find in defence and played every game from Rd 6 and didn't get his colours lowered and turned out to be our best defender (along with Schubert).

[Dogwatcher]

Thnaks BP - pardon my ignorance on that.

[Jimmy]

I don't see Tommy Hurley's name anywhere.


Many Clubs are obviously worried by his size but he will be a HUGE BONUS for Sturt in 2007

agreed :D

bad luck tho tommy and roastbeef

[Jimmy]

Staying (McIntyre) Crows

Going (Campbell)

Coming back but going again (Davis staying at the swans)

North fans will be pissed again...

glad to see the back of matty campbell, always turfed us up.

[BPBRB]

Staying (McIntyre) Crows

Going (Campbell)

Coming back but going again (Davis staying at the swans)

North fans will be pissed again...

glad to see the back of matty campbell, always turfed us up.

Well at least we will now get James Allan who didn't get picked up and is a more in and under tougher player with good pace as opposed to Campbell who was just sheer pace. No doubt the SANFL recruiter phones will be in over drive now the drafts are done and dusted.

[Jimmy]

I'm aware of Jacobs and McIntyre - but my impression is they didn't have much of an influence at league level this season, with their best well before them.

North fans rated McIntyre very highly after he debuted early in the season.

[smac]

Staying (McIntyre) Crows

Going (Campbell)

Coming back but going again (Davis staying at the swans)

North fans will be pissed again...

glad to see the back of matty campbell, always turfed us up.

Well at least we will now get James Allan who didn't get picked up and is a more in and under tougher player with good pace as opposed to Campbell who was just sheer pace. No doubt the SANFL recruiter phones will be in over drive now the drafts are done and dusted.

Reports of 9 fires located in SANFL clubs already, all but two started in the PABX systems - the exception being Sturt and Norwood, where the phone box out the front is ablaze.

[dash61]

Gone
1 Shane Edwards
2 Nick Gill 50/50 may be a crows star we hope and plays all year
3 Davis
4 Campbell
Plus hargraves, koops and co

Gains
1 Motlop
2 Allan
3 Stribling
4 Sporn

BPBRB, at the moment the books are looking more left than strength gained

[JK]

Staying (McIntyre) Crows

Going (Campbell)

Coming back but going again (Davis staying at the swans)

North fans will be pissed again...

glad to see the back of matty campbell, always turfed us up.

Well at least we will now get James Allan who didn't get picked up and is a more in and under tougher player with good pace as opposed to Campbell who was just sheer pace. No doubt the SANFL recruiter phones will be in over drive now the drafts are done and dusted.

Reports of 9 fires located in SANFL clubs already, all but two started in the PABX systems - the exception being Sturt and Norwood, where the phone box out the front is ablaze.

The one on the Parade was burnt just after the re-start of the Legs-Centrals game earlier in the year mate

[smac]

The one on the Parade was burnt just after the re-start of the Legs-Centrals game earlier in the year mate

Hahaha, touché my friend.

[westcoastpanther]

Found this article while trying to find Rhys's age. He must be 23 now but Eade's comments seem spot on. Birth certificates being misleading etc. I am still very surprised he was picked up though!!

A rider worth a punt
July 19 2003

Riding trackwork and roving the packs, Paul Daffey discovers a youngster who can do it all.


In football, the smallest player on the ground is often described as jockey-sized. In the case of 20-year-old Echuca midfielder Rhys Archard, it's an apt description.

Six mornings a week, Archard rides track work for his father Daryl, an Echuca trainer. At 6.30am, Daryl flicks on the lights in Rhys's room before heading out to the stables. Rhys throws on a tracksuit and pair of boots and shuffles out behind him.

Rhys rides two horses, a task which takes him up until 8am, then returns inside for a quick breakfast before ducking off to work at Insurance House in Echuca. After work, more often than not, he has football training.

Few ever watch him riding trackwork. On the morning that The Age attended, there was only Daryl, another track worker and an owner checking on the progress of his horse. But increasing numbers feel compelled to watch him on the football field.

Former Sydney coach Rodney Eade is among those who believe that Archard could play in the AFL, given a stroke of luck and some strong attention to diet and training. Eade's role as the coach of the Victorian Country team, which plays the Victorian Amateurs at Barooga tomorrow week, has required him to watch a handful of games this season in which Archard has played a leading role.


"He's a footballer; he's got footy nous," he said.

Eade advocates the possible drafting of not only Archard, but fellow young footballers from the Goulburn Valley such as Paul Newman, a rangy 19-year-old from Kyabram. He said the emphasis on drafting from the under-18 competition unfairly diminishes the chances of those who mature later. "Birth certificates can be misleading."

With Archard, advancing years have little chance of producing a beefcake. Eade, like many, was surprised to hear that he is 180 centimetres and, proudly, now tips the scales at 70 kilograms. Most would agree that he looks smaller.

But even if he does look like a jockey who has strayed on to the footy oval, his courage and ability to evade heavier opponents rarely fail to earn the respect of teammates, opponents and even himself.

Last month he was certain that a Tatura opponent was about to clean him up when he found himself in the clear with the ball in his hands, having ridden the bump and kept his feet.

"I was thinking, How did that work? I should have got killed," he said.

In another match this year, against Tongala, Archard kicked eight goals in the second half while playing as a rover. His scoring options arose after marking on the lead, crumbing off packs or streaming down from the midfield.

Archard has shown talent and poise since breaking into the Echuca senior team as a 16-year-old student at St Joseph's College, just around the corner from Victoria Park, Echuca's home ground.

In recent years, the football club's tutelage in martial arts and boxing has increased his confidence, which was already high, and improved his balance, which was exceptional.

His balance enables him to ride horses with his toes barely in the stirrup. "I watched the big boys do it," he explained.

Few track workers, certainly at regional courses, have the technique or gumption to ride in the manner of the leading jockeys. Archard's abilities have led to the odd request to help out other trainers, a move that backfired in February 2001 when one trainer's flighty horse dislodged him and dislocated his shoulder.

Archard missed the first half of the football season but said he gave no thought to relinquishing the track, especially when his father shields him from rogue horses by riding them himself. "It doesn't matter as much if I fall off," Daryl said.

On this Saturday morning, Rhys appeared in grey tracksuit pants and a tracksuit top that Essendon had given him when he played half-a-dozen reserves games under Terry Daniher last year. His elastic-sided boots were almost devoid of elastic and a riding cap sat jauntily on his head.

He rode an unraced two-year-old and a well-bred three-year-old in performances that impressed all but his mother, Debbie, who had been left to muck out the stables. "Someone's got to do it," she said.

Back in the kitchen, Rhys Archard dragged a pie from the freezer and whacked it in the microwave. He then applied sauce and accompanied the dish with a glass of milk. Rodney Eade's later words about diet would assume greater meaning than he knew.

After breakfast, Archard took a small nap before he heading off to Victoria Park. On Echuca's beloved bend in the Murray River, he burnt in the match against Shepparton United, as it is hoped he does at Benalla today, before driving down to Melbourne for a 21st birthday party.

Next week he looks forward to representing Victorian Country. If he plays a poor game, it will not be for lack of energy.

[Dissident]

No Tom Hurley listed anywhere. Bit surprising

[BPBRB]

Gone
1 Shane Edwards
2 Nick Gill 50/50 may be a crows star we hope and plays all year
3 Davis4 Campbell
Plus hargraves, koops and co

Gains
1 Motlop
2 Allan
3 Stribling
4 Sporn

BPBRB, at the moment the books are looking more left than strength gained

Compared to last year this years draft was kind to North.

We never had Davis back so he can hardly be a loss. Koops was a waste of money so hardly a loss, Hargraves was on his last legs and we still don't know about Ben Hart who would be a big plus if he commits? If Gill makes it great which should mean we would have Perrie back at Prospect to boost the fwd line so that could work in our favour?

I see you Westies fans on your forum are getting excited about who you might get in the SANFL mini-draft because despite all your in's (none of which anyone has heard of) you still lack substantial depth and strength in some key positions. If I were you Dash, I would worry about your club getting of the bottom rather than whether another club has an even balance re in's an outs or are you going to critique the other SANFL clubs in's and out's as well?

Who's list would you rather have - our's or yours?

[Dutchy]

North fans - can you give me a quick BIO on Matt Campbell...other than he is quick!!!

[BPBRB]

North fans - can you give me a quick BIO on Matt Campbell...other than he is quick!!!

He is small and very quick and kicks with his left foot. Anymore info needed? Project player at this stage, needs to beef up a lot and be more in and under but you never know he could be an Aaron Davey type if given the chance? Not the worst player ever to be drafted despite his size.

[am Bays]

North fans - can you give me a quick BIO on Matt Campbell...other than he is quick!!!

As an AFL recruiter said to your forward coach Dutchy and ex-NT Thunder coach, "I can see a position for him at Flemington but not at our club...."

He has good skils have seen him so miracle flashy things in Alice as a kid, he is bloody quick...

You can probably put this pick down to Bewick, who is aware of Matty's short comings but know he is capable of being the small forward type player Davey is....

[redandblack]

Gone
1 Shane Edwards
2 Nick Gill 50/50 may be a crows star we hope and plays all year
3 Davis4 Campbell
Plus hargraves, koops and co

Gains
1 Motlop
2 Allan
3 Stribling
4 Sporn

BPBRB, at the moment the books are looking more left than strength gained

Compared to last year this years draft was kind to North.

We never had Davis back so he can hardly be a loss. Koops was a waste of money so hardly a loss, Hargraves was on his last legs and we still don't know about Ben Hart who would be a big plus if he commits? If Gill makes it great which should mean we would have Perrie back at Prospect to boost the fwd line so that could work in our favour?

I see you Westies fans on your forum are getting excited about who you might get in the SANFL mini-draft because despite all your in's (none of which anyone has heard of) you still lack substantial depth and strength in some key positions. If I were you Dash, I would worry about your club getting of the bottom rather than whether another club has an even balance re in's an outs or are you going to critique the other SANFL clubs in's and out's as well?

Who's list would you rather have - our's or yours?

Heaven forbid that we should get excited about recruiting 10 or 12 players, on our own forum