Bulldogs have strong history of AFL players ahead of 2016 Draft

SOUTH Fremantle is again to feature heavily in Friday's NAB AFL Draft and it will continue a rich history of the Bulldogs providing some of the very best players over the years.

The Bulldogs have a strong history of producing player to the AFL dating right back to 1988 when Peter Sumich and Scott Watters were among the draftees from South Fremantle. The pair went on to play a combined 269 AFL matches.

Other player drafted from South Fremantle since include Peter Matera (253 games, West Coast), Glen Jakovich (276, West Coast), Brad Hardie (150, Footscray/Brisbane), Darren Gaspar (228, Sydney/Richmond), Phil Matera (179, West Coast) and James Clement (230, Fremantle/Collingwood).

That was just in the first decade of the AFL Draft. Since then there has also been Dean Rioli (100 games, Essendon), Ash McGrath (214, Brisbane), Andrew Krakouer (137, Richmond/Collingwood), Mark Williams (115, Hawthorn/Essendon), Roger Hayden (128, Fremantle), Jacob Surjan (108, Port Adelaide), Paul Duffield (171, Fremantle) and Clint Jones (149, St Kilda).

And again in 2016, there were plenty of South Fremantle players in the AFL and who made news once the season ended.

South Fremantle products Shane Kersten and Cameron McCarthy will be reunited with Fremantle in the AFL from 2017 while another Bulldogs product Jarrod Pickett has found a new home as well.

Following the 2016 season, Kersten was involved in a deal taking him from Geelong to Fremantle where he will join McCarthy while Pickett requested a move from the GWS Giants to Carlton. He received his wish and will now be playing with the Blues from 2017 onwards.

McCarthy was drafted to the Giants at the end of 2013 on the back of a standout National 18s Championships for Western Australia.

And in his 21 games in the AFL up until the end of 2015, he had shown good signs kicking 36 goals and there were certainly times last year when he was on the verge of being a breakout star.

However, he had a desire to return home to WA and requested a trade home to play with Fremantle. When that didn’t eventuate last year, he instead asked for and was granted compassionate leave by the Giants for all of 2016.

That saw him return to South Fremantle where while he wasn’t able to play in the WAFL, he trained hard throughout the season to keep his fitness up and tough sharp while also helping out with some coaching duties including sitting in the reserves coaches' box on game day.

He finally was granted his wish to return home to play with the Dockers who he supported growing up when the deal went through last week. That saw the Giants give up McCarthy and picks 7, 35 and 73 in this year's AFL Draft for Fremantle's No. 3 selection.

McCarthy is now delighted to be officially a Fremantle player and it was a real feeling of relief afterwards following a difficult 2016.

"It has been a long year watching footy every week but I couldn’t be more excited to get back on a list and be part of the Fremantle Dockers and give it a real crack next year, and give it everything I have got," McCarthy said.

"I am obviously very excited. It's sort of a numbing feeling and it hasn’t really sunk in yet. Especially to be part of the Dockers, it's a club I have supported since I was born and the whole family has.

"I'm looking forward to getting to the club and giving everything I've got and meeting all the boys and earning some respect off them. It's like starting again when you are first drafted. I can't wait to earn respect from everyone and give it a real crack next year."

Kersten kicked five goals in South Fremantle's colts premiership of 2011 to go with 26 for that season in just seven appearances. That was after a 30-goal effort in 2010 to win the Len Gilchrist Medal.

He was drafted to Geelong following that and has shown some encouraging signs as a hard working forward after making his debut in 2014. He has kicked 41 goals in 37 matches but was forced out of the Cats team that made a preliminary final in 2016.

He had his best AFL season up to that point kicking 22 goals in 17 matches and the 23-year-old is entering his prime as he arrives at Fremantle. The Dockers gave up pick No. 63 in this year's draft in return for the forward.

Pickett burst onto the scene at WAFL league level late in the 2014 season putting in a match-winning derby performance at East Fremantle Oval. He ended up being taken by the Giants with the No. 4 selection in the 2014 draft but has failed to make his debut in the AFL the past two years.

The excitement machine requested a move to Carlton from the Giants and was granted his wish.

The Gold Coast Suns continued to be home to a host of South Fremantle products in 2016 with Brandon Matera, Callum Ah Chee, Jarrod Garlett and Cameron Loersch all there.

Matera added another 17 games throughout the 2016 season while kicking 24 goals. That included three-goal hauls against the GWS Giants and Brisbane Lions. The 24-year-old has now played 91 AFL matches after debuting with Gold Coast in 2011 for 102 goals.

Fresh off his starring performances in 2015 at league level late for South Fremantle, Ah Chee arrived at the Suns in 2016 and made an immediate impact in the AFL. The 18-year-old played 13 matches in his debut season, kicking nine goals including twice booting two.

Garlett also played another eight AFL matches with Gold Coast in 2016 to take his career tally to 17 over two years. However, the 20-year-old has now requested to return home to WA for personal reasons and has been released from his AFL contract. He could play WAFL football in 2017.

Loersch was a speculative pick by the Suns as a rookie in 2015 and while he didn’t manage to make his AFL debut, the powerful big man played some encouraging football in the NEAFL in his one year on an AFL list.

Kade Stewart was rookie-listed by Hawthorn last year and it was always going to be a big ask to break into a team that had won the last three AFL premierships.

But the 19-year-old not only did so, but in his three games showed that he could very well be a significant part of the Hawks future. His 13 possessions and two goals in Round 12 against Essendon was particularly impressive.

With Hawthorn's focus on players that are good kicks and that are primarily left-footers, Stewart fits the bill perfectly and will now look to become a permanent member of the side in 2017.

There were two South Fremantle players with Port Adelaide in 2016 – Billy Frampton and Brendon Ah Chee.

Ah Chee is the older brother of Callum and he played another 11 games in 2016 on top of 11 in 2015. The 22-year-old did signal interest to join his brother at Gold Coast but will now remain with the Power in 2017.

Frampton will also be at Port Adelaide again in 2017 after his second season with the Power. While he remains waiting to make his AFL debut he is developing impressively in the SANFL.

Former Port Adelaide player Ben Newton played two games at Melbourne in 2016. He originally was drafted by Port Adelaide playing four matches in 2014 before being traded to Melbourne where he played 11 games in 2015 and another two this season just gone.

Player    Club    Year    AFL games    
Mark Bayliss    Collingwood    1988    4    
Stevan Jackson    West Coast    1988    59    
Peter Sumich    West Coast    1988    150    
Scott Watters    West Coast    1988    109    
Richard Geary    West Coast    1989    20    
Peter Matera    West Coast    1989    253    
Dean Irving    West Coast    1989    66    
Peter Worsfold    Brisbane    1990    31    
Mark Collins    Sydney    1990    0    
Willie Rioli    Hawthorn    1990    0    
Glen Jakovich    West Coast    1990    276    
Bruno Italiano    Collingwood    1991    0    
Greg Turner    Collingwood    1991    0    
Jason Spinks    Sydney    1992    0    
Wayne Hernaman    Richmond    1992    20    
Warren Campbell    North Melbourne    1992    19    
Michael Dunstan    Fitzroy    1992    43    
Russell Williams    Essendon    1992    3    
Brett Spinks    West Coast    1992    40    
Damien Gaspar    Melbourne    1992    29    
Ivan Bartul    Melbourne    1993    0    
Greg Wootton    St Kilda    1993    0    
Brad Hardie    Sydney    1993    150    
Darren Gaspar    Sydney    1993    228    
Stephen Jurica    Richmond    1993    18    
Troy Johnson    Brisbane    1995    2    
Phil Matera    West Coast    1995    179    
James Clement    Fremantle    1995    230    
Nathan Turvey    Hawthorn    1996    10    
Clem Michael    Fremantle    1997    43    
Troy Johnson    Fremantle    1997    0    
Dean Rioli    Essendon    1998    100    #
Travis Gaspar    West Coast    1999    28    
Brad Bootsma    Fremantle    2000    23    
Ashley McGrath    Brisbane    2000    214    
Andrew Krakouer    Richmond    2000    137    
Mark Williams    Hawthorn    2000    115    
Cory McGrath    Essendon    2000    78    #
Toby McGrath    West Coast    2000    0    #
Ashley Sampi    West Coast    2001    78    
Dan Hunt    Sydney    2001    0    
Ricky Mott    Sydney    2001    19    
Marty McGrath    Richmond    2001    4    
Keren Ugle    Fremantle    2001    4    #
Roger Hayden    Fremantle    2001    128    #
Josh Head    Fremantle    2002    0    #
Matthew Moody    Brisbane    2003    34    
Brent Hall    Collingwood    2003    1    
Daniel Gilmore    Fremantle    2003    43    #
Toby McGrath    Essendon    2003    0    #
Jacob Surjan    Port Adelaide    2004    108    
Paul Duffield    Fremantle    2004    171    #
Jaymie Graham    West Coast    2004    37    #
Leroy Jetta    Essendon    2006    93    
Clayton Collard    Fremantle    2006    1    
Shannon Cox    Collingwood    2006    25    #
Clint Jones    St Kilda    2007    149    #
Josh Head    Fremantle    2008    9    
Callum Wilson    West Coast    2008    7    #
Ben Newton    Port Adelaide    2010    17    *
Brandon Matera    Gold Coast    2010    91    *
Ashton Hams    West Coast    2010    39    #
Josh Bootsma    Carlton    2011    14    
Shane Kersten    Geelong    2011    37    *
Brendon Ah Chee    Port Adelaide    2011    22    *
Warrick Andreoli    St Kilda    2011    0    #
Mitch Carter    Carlton    2011    0    #
Mason Shaw    Port Adelaide    2012    0    
Adam Carter    West Coast    2012    7    
Haiden Schloithe    Fremantle    2012    0    
Cory Dell'Olio    Essendon    2012    16    #
Steven Verrier    Richmond    2012    0    #
Cameron McCarthy    GWS Giants    2013    21    *
Dylan Main    West Coast    2013    0    
Tom Vandeleur    Fremantle    2013    0    #
Blaine Johnson    Carlton    2013    7    #
Jarrod Pickett    GWS Giants    2014    0    *
Jarrod Garlett    Gold Coast    2014    17    *
Billy Frampton    Port Adelaide    2014    0    *
Callum Ah Chee    Gold Coast    2015    16    *
Kade Stewart    Hawthorn    2015    3    *#
Cameron Loersch    Gold Coast    2015    0    *#
                
* Listed in 2016                
# Rookie-listed