Another ex-cricketer is eyeing an AFL switch, with three clubs already in the mix.
Plus an “uncomfortable” question emerges around a young Hawks star with the club struggling.
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THREE-TEAM RACE FOR EX-BBL CRICKETER
Another former cricketer is eyeing a move into the AFL system with ex-Victorian Shield and Melbourne Renegades bowler Zak Evans about to start meeting with clubs, reports Nine’s Tom Morris.
Evans, 24, has gathered already interest from Geelong, Gold Coast and St Kilda and is likely to gain more attention over the coming weeks.
He was contracted with Victoria between 2017 and 2023, choosing cricket having played alongside Bailey Smith in his final year of football at Xavier College in 2018.
Evans played 10 BBL games for the Renegades.
But now the potential running defender and on-baller can be picked up at a category B rookie, in a controversial loophole which has seen a number of ready-made athletes signed despite their AFL background.
Earlier this year Collingwood signed former cricketer Wil Parker, who was mooted as a first-round pick in 2020 before opting against an AFL career, while the Bulldogs added James O’Donnell as a category B rookie in early 2023 before he debuted at the top level just weeks later.
HAWKS FACE ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ CALL ON STAR
Hawthorn’s continued struggles have seen North Melbourne dual premiership player David King ask whether the club will need to consider drastic action to bolster their draft hand.
The Hawks have rebuilt without AFL draft assistance over the last few years, given how dominant they were in the 2010s, but also without committing much more than their natural picks into the last few drafts.
Until 2022, when the likes of Tom Mitchell, Jaeger O’Meara and briefly Jack Gunston left Waverley Park, the club had not traded out many players with currency.
But with a fifth consecutive bottom six finish looming, King believes the club must “seriously think about” trading out 25-year-old forward Mitch Lewis, in order to get more draft assets.
“It’s an uncomfortable one because we all love the player that he is,” King said on SEN’s Whateley.
“But do they have to look at trading someone like a Mitch Lewis who is 25-26 years of age because how far away is this next opportunity (to contend for a flag)?
“I hate saying that and I hate that clubs are in this position but if you don’t give them concessions, that’s the decision that they are left to make.
“We don’t want that. You force the club to trade out someone that they love to get high-end draft picks for the next wave.
“I just think it’s just a difficult position to be in without any assistance.”
Ironically Lewis came into the club at the 2016 draft, after the Hawks made the brutal calls to depart with champions Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis.
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