Scott targets league recruits
North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says the Kangaroos will look to follow the AFL's expansion clubs and recruit a rugby league star.
The former Brisbane Lions premiership player said he was encouraged by the AFL's recent signings of NRL players Karmichael Hunt and Israel Folau, who will line up for new teams Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney respectively.
Scott had a number of rugby league players in mind who he believed could make the transition to AFL.
"I could think of a number of players we'd love to have a crack at," Scott said.
"We'll be having a look - but we don't want to poach anyone from the Melbourne Storm."
He had no doubt that Hunt and Folau would prove to be successful AFL players.
"The Gold Coast have got great development and Western Sydney will have too and Folau and Karmichael Hunt will I'm sure make a good fist of AFL football," Scott said.
"And we would back our development system as well to turn those players into very good AFL players because athletically they're absolutely capable.
"There are big question marks over endurance but that is the easiest thing to train."
Scott, a former assistant coach of Collingwood, said the success of young Irishman Marty Clarke at the Magpies proved players from other codes could successfully switch.
"I've seen first hand (assistant coach) Alan Richardson do some great work with Marty Clarke at Collingwood who'd never kicked an AFL football, turning him into one of the elite kicks in the competition."
Scott said the AFL should be praised for its work in luring Hunt and Folau across to Australian rules.
"I think it's an absolutely magnificent thing for AFL football," he said.
"I'm absolutely rapt that the AFL have been able to get players like Israel Folau and Karmichael Hunt to come across and play our game as elite first choice athletes.
"I had experience up in Brisbane where it was difficult to get young people excited about our game.
"This is going to create a lot of excitement and a lot of interest among young potential AFL footballers.
"Young kids of eight and nine years of age are going to watch our game on the back of those two players playing and they'll actually have a crack at Auskick and get involved."
Post a comment about this article
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.