West Gippsland football: Tooradin-Dalmore picks up ex-GWS Giant Matthew Buntine

A former top five draft pick AFL Giant has signed with a West Gippsland flag contender. Here’s how it happened.

Lance Franklin of the Swans scraps with Matthew Buntine (No. 21) of the Giants. Picture: Brendon Thorne

In the end, friendship was the clincher.

Former GWS Giant Matthew Buntine has joined West Gippsland club Tooradin-Dalmore to play alongside mates Jake Genoni, Daniel Stafford and coach Jordy Kelly.

They’ve been friends since school and finally get to play football together.

Buntine was a GWS foundation player, drafted with pick five in 2011. His 10-year AFL career was plagued by injuries and saw him make 67 appearances.

In the past two seasons Buntine has played with Casey Demons in the VFL and was a member of their 2022 premiership.

“We’re very excited to have him on board,” Tooradin-Dalmore president Tony Riley said.

“He has a long term relationship with a number of people around the club, it’s been a long time in the making.

“He’s good mates with quite a few of the guys, he went to school with them.”

Matthew Buntine of the Giants. Pic: Hamish Blair

Matthew Buntine.

Buntine, 30, is originally from Berwick and played with the Dandenong Stingrays.

He was taken in the draft in which Greater Western Sydney had the top five picks in readiness for their debut season in 2012 — Jonathon Patton went at No. 1, Stephen Coniglio (2), Dom Tyson (3), Will Hoskin-Elliott (4) and Buntine (5).

Tooradin-Dalmore made the finals last season and has re-signed the majority of its list, although ex-AFL Magpie Brent Macaffer has left the club.

“We lost Brent Macaffer, he’s gone back to Eltham, just to be closer to family and things like that so we respected that,’’ Riley said.

“But we’ve signed most of the other guys.

“Adam Oxley is playing, Piva Wright, Stewie Scanlon, Cooper Shipp, most of the list has stuck around.

Blake Grewar and Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds, who won the club’s best and fairest award, have both gone back to Queensland.

“That’s where they’re from,’’ Riley said.

“We’ve still got a couple other pretty exciting guys we’re talking to as well.”

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