LACH HIM IN, SUNS
FREMANTLE’S Lachie Weller wants to return to the Gold Coast and a former coach says the Suns should do everything they can to snare him in the AFL trade period this week.
FORMER Southport NEAFL coach Matt Angus says Fremantle’s Lachie Weller was the equal to Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe coming through the junior system and can bolster Gold Coast’s culture.
Weller has asked for a trade to the Suns, who consider him the perfect readymade replacement to Adam Saad following his shift to Essendon yesterday for the Bomber’s 2018 second-round draft pick.
Angus coached Fyfe when the Fremantle captain was playing colts at Claremont in Western Australia before going on to mentor the likes of Dayne Zorko (Broadbeach).
Angus came across Weller as a 16-year-old at the Broadbeach Cats, where he coached the club’s NEAFL team for two years and then in 2014 when both moved to the Southports Sharks.
When it came to Weller’s quality, Angus didn’t mince his words.
“He would be the equal of any talent that I have coached previously,” Angus said. “He was a terrific young man and very professional.
“He was very devoted to getting the best out of himself. He had a heap of natural talent but Lachie was very professional, and I think having older football-playing brother (Maverick), coming from a football state and understanding what was required, really helped him.
“He would be terrific for (Gold Coast’s) culture.
“As a 16-year-old I remember him kicking four goals in a half against the Suns reserves for Broadbeach.”
Weller is contracted to Fremantle until the end of next year but has rejected a four-year contract extension offered by the club. The 21year-old’s family moved to the Gold Coast when Maverick was taken as a 17-year-old access selection by the Suns in their inaugural 2010 draft.
His parents have since moved to Melbourne but Weller’s partner’s parents are believed to live on the Coast.
The Suns have struggled to retain talent, with the likes of Saad and Dion Prestia among those requesting trades back home to Victoria.
Weller’s request is a complete role reversal for the Suns, who now have a quality player wanting to return home to play with them.
Gold Coast co-captain Steven May pleaded with his club to sign Weller, posting a tweet that read “Also @GoldCoastSUNS please get @lachieweller thanks guys.”
Weller spent three years in Gold Coast’s system but fell just 12 months short of being eligible for priority selection when he went to the draft in 2014.
North Melbourne midfielder Andrew Swallow has also said he would love to join brother David at the Suns and Kangaroos football manager Cameron Joyce said the club wouldn’t stand in his way.