On the way back: After knee surgery Girgarre’s Brayden George was almost ready to return to full training when he dislocated his elbow during a weights session. After a further 12 weeks in the injury room he is now back playing with North Melbourne.
Every Goulburn Valley football supporter will have the obligatory “second team” when the first ball is bounced in less than two weeks to start the 2024 Australian Football League season.
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Most will no doubt follow the high profile journey of the Kid from Tongala, Harley Reid, as he pencils the next chapter in a story that started almost two years ago when he was first identified as a likely number one pick.
One footballer who has not shared the same amount of attention is Brayden George.
For devotees of Girgarre Football Club there will be no need to invest in new Kangaroos collateral to support the long-awaited arrival of George on the big stage.
George, who was picked at number 26 by North Melbourne in the 2022 draft, spent the entire 2023 season on the sidelines.
That was after he suffered two knee injuries during the previous season while playing with the Murray Bushrangers.
He is among more than 20 footballers and coaches with Goulburn Valley League roots who will be attracting the attention of the region’s football lovers.
George’s journey into the big league was rocky, selected in the draft while still recovering from an ACL injury suffered in 2022.
He then suffered a dislocated elbow while doing a weights session at Wangaratta in October last year, only a couple of months after being cleared to return to full training from his knee surgeries.
George, who turned 20 in January, played only limited game time in an intra club game, cast in the unusual role as a half-back.
Once considered a top 10 draft pick, George made his name as a forward at under-18 level and is expected to feature in some capacity when North Melbourne faces reigning premier Collingwood in a match simulation this morning (Wednesday, February 21).
There is already plenty of interest in the Kangaroos as two time best-and-fairest and co-captain Jye Simpkin is a Mooroopna product.
Non contact: Up until recently Brayden George has worn the familiar colours of players restricted to non-contact training. He played in an intra club game with the Kangaroos at half-back and is ready to fulfill the potential he showed with the Murray Bushrangers in 2021-22.
Footy fans will be in tune with the action on the other side of the country during 2024.
Not only will the football-mad Tongala public be keen to see how number one pick Reid goes with the West Coast Eagles, but the local connection of Ky Bombers star David Long — whose grandson Noah (from Echuca) played 16 games (and kicked seven goals) with the Eagles last season — is certain to continue.
Four-time Melbourne best-and-fairest Clayton Oliver, whose football origin story is shared by Echuca and Mooroopna, has had his every move under the football microscope in recent months.
Another Echuca product, 29-year-old 2021 Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines, is going into his 11th AFL season and across town, Shepparton football fans in particular will have their eyes fixed on Adelaide.
Oscar Ryan, the 2023 draft bolter at number 27, has arrived at West Lakes to join Josh Rachele and Jordan Butts, both also from the GV capital.
Then there is Lachy Ash at GWS, Jarman Impey at Hawthorn, Will Brodie at Fremantle and then — off the field — there is Steven King (now an assistant coach at Geelong) and Adam Yze, the new head coach at Richmond.
Sticking with that theme, former Katandra footballer David Teague is an assistant at Richmond and Broadford’s Richard Douglas is a Gold Coast Suns assistant.
Seymour’s Sam Durham has cemented his place in the Essendon line-up, while the number two draft pick from 2015 — Josh Schache — continues his journey at Melbourne, his third club since joining the Bulldogs in 2016.
Then there is Collingwood’s Jamie Elliott who, like George, still wears the colours that he carried as a junior footballer when playing for Euroa.
Kyabram’s Nick Holman, who played his 100th game with the Suns last season, continues to defy the odds (injury and being delisted) to build on a career which started with Carlton.
Esava Ratugolea, who started playing football at Cobram, has landed at Port Adelaide after a frustrating finish to his time at Geelong.
Mansfield’s Oliver Sestan played 16 games at VFL level (and kicked 12 goals) after being taken at number 28 in the rookie draft by Melbourne.
No matter your allegiance, one thing is certain, there will be plenty of “locals” to follow when it comes to AFL season 2024.
