The Western Bulldogs are excited by what James O’Donnell can obtain within the AFL after the “well-put-together” teen signed with the membership.
The son of former Australian cricketer Simon O’Donnell, James joined the Bulldogs for coaching at Braybrook on Friday after being secured as a class B rookie – the identical rule that Geelong used to lure versatile star Mark Blicavs from athletics.
As nicely as being an ODI hero for Australia within the Nineteen Eighties, Simon made 24 senior appearances for St Kilda in 1982 and 1983 as a cross-code athlete.
O’Donnell, 21, has been enjoying Victorian Premier Cricket for Essendon, however will attempt to make his mark on the identical AFL membership as one other former cricketer.
Bulldogs defender Alex Keath performed six first-class matches for Victoria and 5 Big Bash League matches for the Melbourne Stars earlier than switching to the AFL in 2016.
Coach Luke Beveridge lit up when talking about bringing O’Donnell to the Whitten Oval.
“Simon’s such an iconic Australian cricketer. What an amazing one-day cricketer, and when you think about the O’Donnell history and the lineage in sport, there’s a lot of romance attached to James now getting an opportunity in Australian Rules Football,” he mentioned on Friday.
“Beyond Alex, as far as cross-code, category B rookies, we haven’t really entertained anyone … credit to the O’Donnell genealogy.
“James is nicely put collectively. He’s an amazing athlete.
“He’s had to really convince us that we should give him a spot.
“It’s actually thrilling that we have a younger fella in … now we’ll nurture him take care of him as a as a younger man.”
Beveridge said O’Donnell would look to debut for Footscray in the VFL on April 22 when the Bulldogs take on Southport.
“He’s not coming from a good distance again so far as his health and power ranges go,” Beveridge mentioned.
“He hasn’t performed any footy actually for an extended time frame, due to his class B standing to maintain it that approach.
“He hasn’t been able to play practice matches, but he’s looked really good in training.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
