MPFNL 2024: Top cricketer and ex-draft prospect Ed Newman eyes return to football
A former AFL draft prospect was an interested onlooker at Mornington’s practice match as the Bulldogs’ star signings had tongues wagging.
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Mornington is set to make a key signing on the eve of the Mornington Peninsula league season.
One-time AFL draft prospect Ed Newman could join his good friend Kai Owens at the Bulldogs.
Newman watched Owens in Mornington’s practice match against Dingley at Belvedere Reserve last Friday night and will train with the club this week.
The 25-year-old was an outstanding under-18 player with Sandringham Dragons in 2017 — touted as a draft prospect — before choosing cricket over football.
He’s been a leading player in Victorian Premier Cricket for the past nine years and is the current captain of St Kilda.
Mornington coach Josh Newman said Ed Newman would be a welcome addition to his premiership winning Dogs as they step up to Division 1 of the MPFNL in 2024.
“I think he’s getting the itch to come back and play footy,” Josh said of Ed Newman.
“He’s just finished up with his cricket...he’s been doing a bit of work behind the scenes to build a little bit of conditioning up. He keeps himself obviously in very good nick.
“There’s no pressure at all, we’re pretty cruisy down at Mornington, so it’s more just an opportunity for him to get back involved in footy with one of his mates. We’ll just see how he likes it. If he enjoys the environment, is having fun and wants to pull the boots back on then we’ll find that opportunity for him.”
Former Frankston VFL star Owens and Frankston YCW recruit BJ Credlin impressed in their first time in a Mornington jumper in the scratch match against Dingley.
“BJ and Kai were very good,” Newman said.
“It was good to get the first look at them, I think they’re going to be really key figures for us, not just as individual players but also the impact they have on the rest of the group — their experience, the leadership, you can already see the young boys are better for being around them and training with them all pre-season.”
Newman said Mornington fielded “a pretty raw young side” in the praccy match but was impressed with several emerging players.
Newman on a few of Mornington’s up-and-comers:
Diezel Brousse de laborde
He’s probably the one we noticed straight out of the blocks in pre-season. From day one of pre-season you could tell that...he’s just a bull and got himself really fit and has been training the house down.
Kai Marshall
From Somerville...he has been good mates with Harry De Mattia who got drafted to Collingwood and trained all summer with him and a couple of the Collingwood boys and he’s smashing all of our fitness testing. He’s improving out of sight every week. He was one who played really well on Friday night.
Rory Wagner-Watts
A good young kid who has come to us from Red Hill.
Newman said the Bulldogs had a raft of promising pups.
“There are plenty of them, I could list another 10,’’ he said.
“These young kids, they’re listening to everythig you say and they are wanting to be educated and they are applying things straight away. It’s impressive.’’
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