South Adelaide ruckman Keegan Brooksby set to sign with West Coast Eagles
The SANFL’s premier ruckman Keegan Brooksby is set to join the AFL’s premier team West Coast next season.
THE SANFL’s premier ruckman Keegan Brooksby is set to join the AFL’s premier team West Coast next season.
The 28-year-old’s management has informed his club South Adelaide he has been offered a second chance at AFL football after playing 14 games in three years at Gold Coast.
Brooksby was delisted at the end of the 2017 season and returned to South Adelaide where he had a dominant SANFL season which culminated in being named captain of The Advertiser’s Team of the Year.
It’s understood Brooksby will sign with the Eagles under the AFL’s revamped rookie rules, which mean previously-listed players who have spent at least a season away from the league do not need to be re-drafted.
They can instead sign with an AFL club during the ‘pre-season supplemental selection period’ in much the same way a delisted free agent can sign with another club, like Jack Trengove and Trent McKenzie last year.
The AFL announced on Tuesday morning that Brooksby had withdrawn his draft nomination for later this week.
He was initially drafted to the Gold Coast as a mature-age recruit in the 2015 rookie draft at Pick No.42 from the Panthers.
Listed as 198cm and 100kg, he will be seen as ruck support for Nathan Vardy and Nic Naitanui — who is returning from a second knee reconstruction — as well as competition for St Kilda recruit Tom Hickey.
The South Adelaide skipper played all 19 games this season and was second in the club’s best-and-fairest.
“It is very exciting for Keegan to get another chance to prove himself at the highest level,” South Adelaide chief executive Neill Sharpe said in a statement on the club’s website.
“He is an outstanding player and his form over the last season speaks for itself.
“He certainly deserves this opportunity and we wish him well in the next phase of his AFL career.”
Another SANFL ruckman, Central District’s Darcy Fort, is also expected to join an AFL club via the draft this week.
It’s understood Geelong and Fremantle are among the clubs interested in the 25-year-old who stands 205cm and has previously played with Footscray in the VFL.
reece.homfray@news.com.au