Eagles eye Boomers star Worthington
Posted by Brent DiamondAug 18. 2012 11:15 am
WEST Coast believes it can persuade Australian Boomers basketball star Mark Worthington to join the club as a rookie next season.
The West Australian reports today that Worthington will undertake fitness testing in the lead up to this year’s draft and may well follow in the footsteps of others who have changed sports to join AFL such as Gold Coast’s Karmichael Hunt, GWS’s Israel Folau and Setanta o’hAilpin, Collingwood’s Lachie Keefe, who was a former soccer player, and Geelong’s Mark Blicavs, who is also a basketballer.
West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett told Steve Butler from the West Australian that the Eagles have strong interest.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained and everyone knows where they’re at,” Nisbett said.
“If we both decided to give this a crack, he’d start as a rookie and be a back-up player, but we’d train him up and after a pre-season, you just don’t know where he’d end up.
“His pedigree as a junior was outstanding so it shouldn’t take him too long.
“He’d want to prove that he could actually play and for us, it’s almost a free swing even though it would cost us a little bit to secure him. It’s a sojourn into something we haven’t done much of and would open it up for basketballers around the world to have a look at our sport.
“The thing is, he plays basketball like a footballer and they’re the sort of things that appeal to us. You wouldn’t be getting someone who isn’t competitive and if you don’t give it a crack, you’ll never know.”
Image from thenblblog.blogspot.com.au
Tags: australian boomers, basketball, Mark Worthington, West Coast
Filled under: Clubs, Latest News, West Coast
