Former Bulldogs sign with Southport Sharks for 2021

TWO former Western Bulldogs players have signed with Southport while an ex-Suns AFL player is in career best shape going into 2021.

Brad Lynch of the Bulldogs (right) and Tom Hawkins of the Cats contest during the Round 15 AFL match between the Western Bulldogs and the Geelong Cats at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Friday, June 29, 2018. (AAP Image/Julian Smith) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

TWO former Western Bulldogs players have signed with Southport while an ex-Suns AFL player is in career best shape going into 2021.

The Sharks list build is going strongly ahead of their transition into the new eastern seaboard state league following the combination of the NEAFL and VFL.

Southport have secured former Bulldogs midfielders Brad Lynch and Lucas Webb.

Lynch was delisted by the AFL club at the end of the 2020 season after playing nine games while Webb was let go a year earlier after recording 24 games between 2015 and 2019.

Both will arrive in Queensland early next year.

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The duo will play alongside Michael Manteit, who has returned to the Sharks after spending 2020 back in Melbourne.

Manteit won a premiership with Southport in 2018, the same season he won the club’s best and fairest and was named in the NEAFL’s team of the year.

“He was going to play at Sandringham in Melbourne next year but once we were put into the new VFL he wanted to play with Southport,” Sharks coach Stephen Daniel said.

Brad Lynch of the Bulldogs (right) and Tom Hawkins of the Cats contest during the Round 15 AFL match between the Western Bulldogs and the Geelong Cats at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Friday, June 29, 2018. (AAP Image/Julian Smith) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Former Suns players Jesse Joyce and Jacob Dawson have also inked deals with the Sharks, with Joyce still recovering from a minor injury.

Meanwhile, former Gold Coast AFL player Brad Scheer has been one of the best performers early in the pre-season for the club.

Scheer has stripped 8kg from his frame while improving his fitness, winning the club’s 2km time trial earlier in December.

“He is in fantastic form,” Daniel, who also coached Scheer at the Suns, said.

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“When COVID hit he started doing triathlon training and didn’t play football at all. This is the best shape I have seen him in all the years I have known him.”

Daniel said ruck-forward Brayden Crossley, 21, who had a strong year with Palm Beach Currumbin in the QAFL, has also impressed.

“He is training really well,” Daniel said.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA - JULY 13: Brad Scheer of the Suns kicks during the round 17 AFL match between the Gold Coast Suns and the Adelaide Crows at Metricon Stadium on July 13, 2019 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

“He is like a new recruit because he didn’t play in 2020. He has been working really hard and putting his best foot forward to give himself every opportunity to be redrafted by an AFL club down the track.

“Brayden is a mature young fella and will help guide a lot of the other boys.”

Southport will return to training on January 12.

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