Bundoora secures former Carlton first-round draft pick Sam Philp

Links with a number of Bundoora players has helped the Bulls land former Carlton first-round draft pick Sam Philp for 2024.

Sam Philp in action for Carlton during a practice match.

Bundoora has landed the prized signature of former Carlton first-round draft pick Sam Philp.

The fleet-footed midfielder was taken with pick No.20 in the 2019 draft and played two AFL games before a series of injuries saw him miss almost two years of football.

Philp, 22, has signed with VFL club Port Melbourne for 2024 but will feature for the Bulls when commitments allow.

Strong connections at Yulong Reserve saw him chose the NFNL Division 1 grand finalist as his local aligned club.

Bulls coach Heath Scotland was rapt to have a quality player and quality person arrive at the club.

“If we see him, great, but I think he’s a player that didn’t get opportunities at Carlton and hopefully we can support him with his role at Port Melbourne and in 12 months he’s playing AFL again,” Scotland said.

“He’s 22, his maturing physically, all young players have their moments and I’d like to think for his sake he can get on top of (injuries) and play good football.

“As a player, his attributes – speed, ability to win the football, go from inside to out – are going to be really important.

“Our reserves coach, Rob Bolzon, has a connection with him and he knows five or six players from St Mary’s junior days.

“Then with his decision around state league football, going to Port Melbourne, where I spent some time and I’m good friends with Adam Skrobalak, so it all tied in really well.”

The 2019 Brent Harvey Medallist joins his former Northern Knights teammates Jackson Davies, Ryan Sturgess and Jackson Bowne at Yulong Reserve.

Sam Philp in action for Carlton.

“He’s excited about coming down and playing some football but we’ll see where that stands,” Scotland said.

“We want to support him at Port Melbourne but there will be byes and opportunities to play with us and he’ll fit in seamlessly.”

Philp is the second signing of the off-season, joining ex-Montmorency defender Michael Fitz-Gerald.

Bundoora is confident of adding a couple more recruits for 2024.

The club has seen a number of key players depart after making a second NFNL Division 1 grand final this year, again falling to Heidelberg.

Scotland admits the club is behind on the recruiting front but is happy with the talent at his disposal, whether or not there are any more new arrivals.

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“Probably the hardest part for the football club was just after I signed I went on a family vacation for a month,” he said.

“We’ve been in a holding pattern for a month but we’ve certainly been quite active in terms of reaching out and having meetings with players in the last couple of weeks and we’re hoping to add a couple more.

“Training on night one was Monday, we had a great turnout, and I’m excited about the young list we’ve got.”

Bundoora kicked off pre-season training on Monday with the club making significant progress on improving the club’s depth and improving its reserve grade for 2024.