Key trio in a fight to face Kangas
Bennell’s future in surgeon hands Time for Cats to wake up and play
with Leanne Evans
THE junior ITF tournament circuit is the first stop in almost every player’s international pathway to becoming a professional.
In a circuit which encompasses junior grand slams, the world’s next gen have 253 tournament opportunities each year.
Eleven of these are in Australia, two are in Queensland and one is on the Gold Coast.
Gold Coast Albert Junior Tennis Club in Burleigh Waters to be precise.
The Mapei Gold Coast Junior International Tennis Tournament has just wrapped up at Gold Coast Albert.
Almost 150 of tennis’s next gen took to the courts, with Australia’s best under-18s facing competitive company from players representing New Zealand, Malaysia, China, Germany, Serbia and the UK.
Amid the tennis talent were eight Gold Coasters. In the girls, Cyan Sun reached the second round in singles and quarter-finals in doubles, HARLEY Bennell hopes to save his career with calf surgery in Brisbane this week before finding an AFL club that will allow him to train with them over summer.
Bennell, 26, believes his career is not over despite cutting ties with Fremantle after repeated calf issues.
He will have surgery as early as this week. The procedure will release pressure from the nerve and allow him to train fully.
He would then need eight weeks of recovery, with the results of that surgery to be presented to clubs who might hand him a lifeline. while at the age of just 14, Darina Kamenoff made her fourth ITF singles main draw appearance of the year.
In the boys, Tai Sach, Jacob Bradshaw and Haru Sonton all took the courts in the singles main draw.
Sach also reached the quarter-finals in doubles, while Bradshaw, Sonton and Max Stewart made it through to the second round in doubles.
Ethan Shoesmith also took to the courts in doubles. Fellow Gold Coaster Jack McCarthy reached the semifinals in singles and second round in doubles.
It wasn’t just the tennis talent that shone a bright light on Gold Coast Albert, with brand new LED lights illuminating the courts.
But the talent did shine very bright indeed.
WINNERS
Boys singles: Chen Dong (Qld), runner-up: Alex Blute (Vic)
Boys doubles: Bryce Robinson (Qld) & Nikita Volonski (NSW)
Girls singles: Talia Gibson (WA), runner-up: Natasha Russell (SA)
Girls doubles: Cassidy Mataia (Qld) and Jasmine Adams (Vic)
Clubs would not take a punt on Bennell as a rookie but, as with Richmond’s Sydney Stack, he could prove himself over summer with a club holding open a rookie spot.
When Bennell did play in the WAFL this year he produced some dynamic play including one 30-possession, sevenclearance, two-goal display.
New rules on a mid-season draft and rookie list could also help players like Luke Hodge get another year out of their careers. If Hodge played on in 2020 but hit a wall early, the Brisbane Lions could replace him halfway through the year. BORING is bad with Geelong, who are off the boil after losing three of their five games since their AFL bye.
While the Cats remain a game clear on top of the ladder and boast the best percentage by a long way, alarm bells are ringing five weeks from finals.
Geelong’s scoring deluge has become a drought in those three losses – with eight goals in Sunday’s loss to resurgent Hawthorn following just eight and seven in the Round 14 and Round 16 defeats.
Retired Cats great Jimmy Bartel agrees with captain Joel Selwood, who said after Sunday’s match that Geelong were becoming too safe and boring in how they played.
“Joel Selwood absolutely nailed it and it’s good when you hear captains or leaders of clubs (not) talk in riddles,” Bartel told Macquarie Sports Radio.
“He (said) ‘we’re boring’ and when you think about it, that is a great way to describe what their problem is.”
Bartel said that when Geelong were playing well they were quicker with their ball use.
Fast play was also a feature of the Cats when Bartel was a member of three premiership sides between 2007 and 2011. WEST Coast are facing a nervous wait to see whether captain Shannon Hurn, Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass will be cleared to play in Saturday’s AFL clash with North Melbourne in Perth.
Hurn was a late withdrawal from Sunday’s 13-point win over Melbourne in Alice Springs after injuring his calf at training.
McGovern rolled his left ankle late in the game and will have scans to determine the extent of the damage.
Barrass could be suspended over his third-quarter bump that concussed Demons co-captain Jack Viney.
All three defenders loom as keys against North Melbourne, who boast 200cm Ben Brown, 198cm Nick Larkey and 192cm Mason Wood in attack.
Given there is only a six-day break between games, Hurn and McGovern don’t have much time to prove their fitness.
Francis Watson was solid in his debut after earning a late call-up to replace Hurn, while premiership defender Will Schofield is waiting for a recall.
Utility Oscar Allen, who has been used in attack and as a pinch-hitting ruckman for most of this season, can also play in defence.