VFL 2019: Sam Fox emerges as surprise package for Sandringham

Fox news: Frankston Bombers captain Sam Fox is exceeding his expectations after returning to the VFL as a late Zebra signing.

SAM Fox never imagined it would go like this.

When he signed at Sandringham a few weeks out from the season, he thought he would play the occasional game in the VFL and the rest for Frankston Bombers in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean league.

In other words, he saw himself as a Sandy bit player.

Instead he’s become a Sandy regular.

It’s a surprise to him, just as it came as a surprise to VFL followers to see the former Frankston Dolphins player having another dash at the state league at the age of 27.

“Yeah, a bit unique I suppose,’’ Fox, who works as a co-ordinator with the St Kilda Football Club Next Generation Academy, was saying last Thursday.

“I thought well, you know, while I’m in my prime I should play the best level of footy I can.

“I’m really enjoying it. I love the training and the education. It works in well with what I’m doing with the Academy.’’

Many players have a run in the VFL for a year or two then drop back to local level, there to stay.

Fox took the same path, joining the Bombers after three years at Frankston. But he found his way back to the state league, sparking Sandy’s interest with his performance for Vic Country last year.

Sam Fox on the run for Frankston Bombers.

The Zebras asked him to pre-season training. Since he’d been appointed captain of the Bombers, he declined.

But weeks later he accepted an invitation to play in an intraclub game. He did well enough to enthuse Sandringham CEO David Cannizzo, who a few years earlier was working at the Southern Football Netball League when Fox joined it as a young intern.

After the scratch match Fox was offered a place on the Sandy list. Bombers coach Beau Muston, the former Hawthorn player and Box Hill Hawks captain, convinced him to take it.

While Fox thought he would bob up for a VFL game here and there, Muston was expecting more.

“We definitely thought he could play at the level,’’ he said.

“Although I was hoping from a selfish, Bombers point of view that he wouldn’t play as much as he has … he’s at that level (VFL). He’s got better and better with age, and the reputation he made with us probably gave him an opportunity quicker than some others would get.

“We’re rapt for him. I’ve always been one for pushing people up to the highest level possible.’’

Muston cannot put Fox in his starting 18, but he sees other benefits to the Bombers.

“Sam’s been helping out every week, and it’s a big thing for our footy club to have someone involved in the professional environment,’’ he said.

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Fox came out of Skye Football Netball Club, and the headline in local papers was “Sky’s the limit for Sam’’ after he was awarded the Southern league’s first Shooting Star award, sponsored by Leader Newspapers.

From Skye he went to the Dolphins.

“My first year, I played a fair bit of senior footy, then we had a pretty strong side and I was in the twos for a while,’’ he said. “I finished off with some more senior footy … at the end of the year I was ready to go back to local, just enjoy my footy. I wasn’t really getting the best out of myself so I thought I’d take a step back.’’

In his first season with the Bombers, 2016, he won the league medal on the way to becoming one of the Mornington Peninsula league’s best players.

Sandy have used their seasoned recruit as a small forward and on the wing, and after eight matches he was averaging 15 disposals, including 22 touches and two goals against Coburg.

His physical strength is a strength of his game.

“It (the VFL) has definitely got better than when I was at Frankston,’’ he said.

“There’s a lot more structure and method as to how the teams are playing defence … you’ve still got to go and get your own footy and there’s not much time to get rid of it.’’

Surprising himself, Sam Fox is coping just fine.