HEADS ADD ANOTHER BIG NAME
BARWON Heads is set to unleash former AFL ruckman Angus Graham on Ocean Grove in Saturday’s Battle of the Bridge.
The 201cm big man, who played 48 senior games at Richmond and Adelaide, has been training at the club for a couple of weeks but is yet to pull on the Seagulls jumper.
Graham works on the Surf Coast as a builder and is due to move down to the area later this year.
The 30-year-old is set to spend the majority of his time forward, but will also pinch hit in the ruck.
“Hopefully I will be up forward more. I don’t want to play full-time ruck,” he said.
“I’ll be a long target, a bit of a bigger presence down forward, maybe chip in in the ruck. That’ll be the plan.
“I’ve been doing it (playing ruck) for the past 15 years so the body is a bit beaten up. I’m happy to do a bit, but I’ve hit 30 so I don’t want to keep battering the body.”
Graham was lured to Barwon Heads by Leigh Sartori. In 2016 he played in the WAFL with Perth, while he also won a premiership with Aberfeldie in the Essendon and District Football League after finishing at AFL level.
The signature of Graham will be a significant boost for the table-topping Seagulls, who also have former Geelong champion Corey Enright on their list.
Graham spent the start of 2017 resting, but said he has started to get the itch to pull on the boots again.
“This year I haven’t had a run around yet. I decided I wanted to have half a year off and give my body a bit of a break.
“It might take me a few games to find my feet, so hopefully I can play some good footy.
“I feel as fresh as I can be. The body is feeling pretty good, I’ve just got to get the first couple of games out of the way.”
Graham said he hadn’t seen any BFL football yet, but was looking forward to playing his first game.
“I have a few mates that play for Torquay that used to play for Werribee,” he said. “I went to training to see the boys train but apart from that I’m not much wiser on the stan- dard. I haven’t seen a game of footy yet (in the BFL).”
Co-coach Mitch Herbison said he gave the Seagulls playing group an extended break over the bye weekend, with players returning to training on Tuesday night.
He said the bye had come at the perfect time, allowing those with battered bodies to recover heading into a crucial part of the season.
“We had some pretty sore boys. It was a good opportunity to have a lighter week,” Herbison said.
“We came back Tuesday night and got stuck back into it.
“We are starting to get some injured players back. We will have to wait and see at selection, but the list is looking healthier and hopefully it can remain that way for the rest of the year.”