Heppells hands fastest - NAB League

Heppell's hands fastest

IN RECENT years, the Western Bulldogs have made the handball one of their key attacking weapons.

With players like Daniel Cross, Matthew Boyd and Adam Cooney setting up their free-running teammates, the Dogs have powered themselves into three successive preliminary finals.

But Rodney Eade's men are set to be even better at using the ball in 2011, because thanks to the father-son rule, they've already signed two of the most highly-skilled youngsters in the Australia.

The Bulldogs have committed their first and second-round selections in November's NAB AFL Draft to recruiting Mitch Wallis (son of former defender Steve Wallis) and Thomas Liberatore (son of 1990 Brownlow Medallist Tony Liberatore).

Of all the lads screened at the national and state draft combines, Wallis and Liberatore were among the players whose coaches gave them a score of 5/5 for their handballing skills.

Both of them also did well in the challenging Matthew Lloyd-designed handball awareness test, although their efforts were bettered by a few other young-guns.

TAC Cup star and top-10 draft prospect Dyson Heppell was one of the outstanding performers, topping the chart after gaining 28 points out of 30.

Heppell enjoyed an outstanding 2010 season. He was a standout player at the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships in the middle of the year and in September he powered Gippsland Power into the TAC Cup grand final.

Heppell's effort in the handball awareness test was matched by Northern Knights forward Josh Caddy, while Wallis was among the five players to score 27/30.

The others in this group were Sandringham Dragons forwards Daniel Farmer and Jarryd Lyons, Queenslander Tom Hickey and Geelong Falcons ruckman Jai Sheahan.

Hickey shapes as one to watch in the draft as he has played some impressive games of senior football in the QAFL with Morningside.

**BEST PERFORMERS IN MATTHEW LLOYD-DESIGNED HANDBALL AWARENESS TEST**
Name	Position	Club	Time
Dyson Heppell	Midfielder	Gippsland Power	28/30
Mitchell Wallis	Midfielder	Calder Cannons	27/30
Daniel Farmer	Forward	Sandringham Dragons	27/30
Jarryd Lyons	Forward	Sandringham Dragons	27/30
Tom Hickey	Ruck	Morningside	27/30
Jai Sheahan	Ruck	Geelong Falcons	27/30

For more information about the NAB AFL Draft please visit www.afl.com.au

Last Modified on 18/11/2010 15:42

Comments

Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.

Heppell's hands fastest

Comments

Sell Tickets.

Run your Event.