Jesse Tardio and Jhye Baddeley-Kelly join North Heidelberg teammate Liam Hunt in signing at Williamstown

More than a decade after spotting Jake King out of North Heidelberg, Andy Collins has again return to Shelley Park in a bid to unearth more recruiting gems.

Jesse Tardio takes a mark for North Heidelberg. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Williamstown coach Andy Collins has had recruiting success out of North Heidelberg before.

Collins spotted Jake King out of Shelley Park in the mid-2000s when he was in charge at Coburg, putting the tough small forward on the path to a 107-game career at Richmond.

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More than 12 years later, Collins has returned to North Heidelberg in the hope of unearthing more recruiting gems.

Collins has signed three of the Bulldogs’ young guns for 2019, with midfielder Jesse Tardio and half-back Jhye Baddeley-Kelly following Liam Hunt to the Seagulls.

Williamstown Football Club is delighted to announce the signings of North Heidelberg trio Liam Hunt, Jesse Tardio and Jhye Baddeley-Kelly.

STORY: https://t.co/bPUxBWUC6d#WeStandAlone pic.twitter.com/kqOKJ2v43N

— Williamstown FC (@WilliamstownFC) December 11, 2018

Benalla’s Sam Martyn tipped to join Williamstown FC for the 2019 VFL season. Shared the Goulburn Valley league best and fairest this year. Towners have recruited well to cover the loss of their drafted players.

— Paul Amy (@PaulAmy375) December 12, 2018

Hunt declared in October he would make a return to the state league after walking out on Coburg last year, while Tardio and Baddeley-Kelly recently put pen to paper at the perennial VFL contender.

Tardio spent two years in Northern Blues’ development team after coming through the Northern Knights, but has flourished in the past two seasons at North Heidelberg.

He was best on ground in the 2017 Division 2 grand final, represented the Northern league in the AFL Victoria Community Championships this season and was named in the team of the year.

Baddeley-Kelly moved from Lalor to North Heidelberg at the start of 2018 and represented Vic Metro against Vic Country.

Collins tipped the pair could make the jump to the VFL.

“I recruited a boy by the name of Jake King many years ago to the Coburg footy club and he played every game for me,” Collins said.

“Jake hadn’t come through the traditional pathway either but I believe they (Baddeley-Kelly and Tardio) are both talented enough to play every game.

“We’ll definitely give them the practice games to show their stuff and it’s just how quickly they make that transition, but I wouldn’t recruit them if I didn’t think they could play significant VFL footy.”

Liam Hunt in action for North Heidelberg. Picture: Nathan McNeill.

Collins was put onto Baddeley-Kelly through assistant coach Peter Banfield.

“Peter also was involved in that (Vic Metro) squad and said, ‘you’ve just got to pick this kid up’,” he said.

“Again, just a late developer, hasn’t come through the pathways and really talented, explosive, aggressive, really good hands and feet.

“North Heidelberg should be really excited about giving these guys a shot at it.

“For a local footy club to have three boys be given a shot at VFL footy, hopefully they’re very proud of that.”

Williamstown has also signed Goulburn Valley league best and fairest winner Sam Martyn.

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