EFL 2018: South Croydon star Frank Anderson receives AFL state combine invite

SOUTH Croydon premiership star Frank Anderson is another step closer to realising his AFL dream after receiving an invite to October’s state combine.

IT HAS been a momentous few days for Frank Anderson.

The South Croydon premiership star celebrated his 21st birthday over the weekend and on Tuesday afternoon news filtered through he had been invited to the AFL state combine.

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Anderson has been pursuing his AFL dream through the local ranks this year, catching the attention of recruiters in the Eastern Football League.

The powerful midfielder won the 2017 EFL Young Gun Award as the competition’s best player under 21 and was named Vic Metro captain for the biennial game against Vic Country last month.

Although his season has been halted due to a stress fracture in his left foot, the state combine invite confirms AFL interest in the boy from Croydon.

Frank Anderson (front row, fourth from right) in a premiership pose. Picture: Hamish Blair

“Cathy White, our president, sent me a message saying, ‘congrats’ and I messaged her back saying, ‘what about?’ and she said I’d been invited to the state combine,” Anderson said.

“I was taken aback a little bit, I was pretty excited … but you know hundreds of other guys have got invites and it’s not a be all and end all, it’s not the end destination.”

Anderson said he had overworked himself earlier in the year, resulting in the early onset of a stress fracture.

The Bulldogs remain unsure if he will return this year as they prepare for a tilt at back-to-back premierships.

“I was trying to do too much and it worked against me in the end because obviously the stress fractures are from over training,” he said.

“I’ve come out of it a little bit smarter now, I know you just can’t keep going and going and expect your body to hold up.”

Anderson said he was doing as many as three training sessions a day while trying to juggle his gym business with girlfriend Alice.

Frank Anderson with South Croydon 2009 premiership coach Paris Harvie after his Vic Metro appearance. Picture: Phil Lovell

“Most my days are taken up with the business, me and my girlfriend get up quite early — our alarms at 4.30 most mornings,” he said.

“We get up super early and we take all the morning classes, they stop at about 10am, (we) come home, have something to eat and do a bit more for the business and then I start getting ready for footy training about 4.30pm.

“It’s a pretty busy day but we don’t have a whole lot to do during the afternoon, which is nice, so that’s where I get my extra training.”

The combine will be held at Etihad Stadium on October 5.

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