DARREN MONCRIEFF
Sunday 19 February 2012
GOLD Coast forward Nathan Krakouer is training with WAFL club Claremont in what could be a shock return to senior football.
Krakouer, 23, shocked AFL club the Suns after walking out on them last year. He remains on the club's official list but was released from his contract, citing personal reasons as his return to Western Australia.
Claremont was the club where brothers Jim and Phil Krakouer, Nathan's uncles, made their names before joining the then VFL with North Melbourne, and it was where the young Krakouer (pictured) made his league debut at a young before joining Port Adelaide in the AFL.
Krakouer played 13 games for the Suns in their debut AFL season in 2011 but fought homesickness for much of last year.
Krakouer made his AFL debut with Port Adelaide in 2007 despite his former coach Mark Williams prediciting he wouldn't play at AFL level for at least two years after his draft selection.
Krakouer was one of the big names recruited by Gold Coast in 2010.
Headland the comeback kid?
SUBIACO'S Des Headland could make a surprise return to league football after having apparently reversed his decision to retire from the WAFL.
Headland, who had won an AFL premiership with Brisbane Lions in 2002, was seemingly on his last legs last year, literally, after battling a troubling leg injury that reduced his impact somewhat.
He was, however, one of Subiaco's best in last year's WAFL Grand Final in which the Lions lost to Claremont.
Headland, 31, played 34 league games with the Lions, the majority of them in his WAFL debut season in 1998, after which he was selected by the Brisbane Lions as the number 1 pick in that year's national draft.
After 166 AFL games with the Lions (1999-2002) and 114 with Fremantle (2003-2010), Headland retired from AFL football and returned to Subiaco. He played just nine games for the Lions last year.
AboriginalFootball@westnet.com.au
Last Modified on 19/02/2012 11:36