Will the Dore open for Brett?
By Troy Snow
Sandringham Football Club is the first step in which talented forward Brett Dore hopes will be a successful transition into AFL football.
Dore, 24, joined the Zebras this year to reunite with close friend Brett Lovett and freely admits he still has the passion and desire to join an AFL list.
The talented forward returned to VFL football after guiding Nar Nar Goon to the Ellinbank and District Football League premiership last season but decided to give elite football one more crack.
“I had played with Frankston under Brett and it was really good but then in my last year there I lost the passion and we only won one game for the year,” Dore said.
“To go back and play in a premiership with Nar Nar Goon was definitely a highlight in my football career but once I heard Brett was coming back I thought I would give him a call as I wanted to get the most I could out of my footy.
“I still have the desire and it is still my dream to reach the AFL, I have to give myself the best possible chance and be as professional as I could and that is why I returned to the VFL.”
Dore played 31 games with Frankston before making the switch to Sandringham and he couldn’t be happier with his move to date.
“It is a great club to be around at the moment,” Dore said.
“Everyone is really nice, the committee is willing to help, it couldn’t be a better bunch of blokes to be around.”
And not to mention the newly appointed coach who Dore is full of praise for.
“Brett is probably the best coach I have ever played under,” he said.
“He has the total respect from the playing group and no matter who he coaches they always play for him which is always good.”
Throw in the St Kilda listed players that Dore gets to play with week in week out and there is a perfect platform to form an AFL assault at the end of this year.
“I will definitely put my hand up at the end of the year for the Draft,” Dore said.
“I have set myself a couple of goals for the season and if I can stick to them hopefully I can picked up as that would be ideal.”
The power forward might not be that far away from his ultimate goal of reaching the AFL after catching the eye of Greater Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy last year and earning two practice games this pre season.
“Kevin Sheedy gave me a call and it was unreal to play those practice games, it was the highlight of my football career along with the premiership,” he said.
“I suppose it urges you on and gives you some hope that recruiters are looking at you, that is the reason why I came back to the VFL to be as professional as I could to give myself the best possible chance.”
With the likes of Michael Barlow, Cameron Richardson, Ed Curnow and 27 year old Carlton recruit Nicholas Duigan being drafted in the last two years there is a real belief in VFL footballers that there is a chance just around the corner.
“It definitely gives you some confidence with other guys getting picked up through the VFL system,” he said.
“If you play some good footy I am sure there will be some clubs interested come draft time.”
Although Dore is yet to crack the big time he is no stranger to hard work working 40 to 50 hours a week as a plumber as well as training daily for Football.
“It is pretty tough to be a VFL footballer,” he said.
“Everyone has jobs but they also want to put as much into their football as they can.
“We train Monday, Wednesday and Thursday depending on when we play our games but I usually do something light on the other days to keep the body going.”
It is hard to question his commitment with Dore travelling from Pakenham just to play with Sandringham – a return trip of over two hours per training session.
“I live out at Pakenham which makes it quite a trip but it is all good fun and hopefully all the hard work I put in gets rewarded in the future.”
While Dore has been overlooked in the past things have changed, more mature aged recruits are being drafted and if you were recruiting players by effort and commitment Dore would be at the top of the list.
Only time will tell.
Last Modified on 28/04/2011 14:36