Portarlington Football Club will draft an AFL legend this year, now the question is who

Portarlington Football Club will welcome an AFL legend this season as part of a campaign to help grassroots clubs recover from the Covid-19 - now the question is which legend they’ll pick.

Portarlington Football Club will welcome an AFL legend this season, as part of a Carlton Draught campaign to help grassroots clubs recover from the challenges of Covid-19.

The Bellarine Football League club is one of eight Victorian local football clubs picked to take part in the ‘Carlton Draft’, with a draft night held on April 17 where clubs will get their pick of eight AFL legends.

Dale Thomas, Eddie Betts and Nathan Jones will all play for a grassroots club this season as part of the Carlton Draft. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images for TLA)

The former superstars on offer include four-time Goal of the Year winner Eddie Betts, three-time premiership player Cam Mooney, four-time premiership Hawk Jarryd Roughead, 407 gamer and four-time Premiership player Shaun Burgoyne, 2010 Collingwood Premiership player Dale Thomas, 2017 Richmond Premiership player and five-time All Australian Alex Rance, recently retired Demon and 300 gamer Nathan Jones and two-time All Australian Brendon Goddard.

The campaign to attract clubs to take part in the Carlton Draft saw more than 500 clubs put their hands up, with the AFL and Carlton Draught hand-picking the eight winners based on hardship grounds and in line with the campaign’s aim to support grassroots footy where it was most needed.

“For the lucky eight clubs selected to have the opportunity to draft a former AFL legend will be a sight to behold for the local community and all of us draftees can’t wait to play a role in bringing the spark back to local footy,” Jarryd Roughead said.

“I would love to go as high as possible in the draft but regardless of when my name is called, I can’t wait to meet my new teammates, pull the boots on and rally the local community together.”

AFL Victoria head Ben Kavenagh said support for local football clubs “has never been more important” following the interruptions of the past two years.

“Community football is the lifeblood of our game and ensuring local clubs and leagues bounce back after two incredibly challenging years for grassroots sport in our state is a major focus in 2022,” Mr Kavenagh said.

Originally published as Portarlington Football Club will draft an AFL legend this year, now the question is who