AFL 2022: Follow all the pre-season signings and contract news
Harley Bennell retired from AFL footy after a Covid protocol breach at the Demons. But he’s set to make a remarkable comeback in 2022.
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Former Melbourne Demon and Fremantle Docker Harley Bennell is poised to make a shock state-league return where it all began.
News Corp can reveal the 29-year-old has been training at WAFL outfit Peel Thunder since the club returned from Christmas break about a month ago.
First-year Thunder coach Geoff Valentine said the former No. 2 draft pick had been impressive on the track since joining in first session of the New Year at Rushton Park, highlighting his leadership, work ethic and voice around a developing group.
Valentine said while there was still “a lot of water to go under the bridge”, he was optimistic the Pinjarra product could feature early in the season if he kept progressing.
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It would be a remarkable comeback for the talented-but-injury-prone midfielder, who made his senior debut for the Thunder as a bottom-aged colt back in 2009 before getting snapped up by Gold Coast the following year.
He will be a one-point player for the Thunder.
Bennell’s three-club, 88-game AFL career at the Dockers, Suns and Melbourne was plagued by persistent calf injuries and off-field issues.
Just as he appeared to be getting things back on track at the Demons in 2020, he was suspended and fined for a COVID-19 protocol breach in Queensland.
Bennell then retired from AFL football and returned home to WA, where he played for his junior club Pinjarra in the Peel Football League alongside fellow ex-Dockers Hayden Ballantyne and Brock O’Brien.
He looks in great physical condition and recently won the best-on-ground medal in a star-studded charity match at Leederville Oval..
How McCartin made surprise concussion comeback
- Jon Ralph
Paddy McCartin is officially back on an AFL list after signing with Sydney as a rookie following a strong summer of training.
The former No.1 draft pick has made a rousing comeback from serious concussion issues that had derailed his professional AFL career.
McCartin had played as a forward and back for Sydney’s VFL team last year, but endured a lengthy suspension and the interruption of the season due to Covid issues.
At just 25, he now has a chance to again make his mark after being officially signed by the Swans as part of the AFL’s supplemental selection period rules on Monday.
His brother Tom McCartin, a brilliant young Sydney defender, told the Herald Sun last year that Paddy had retrained his brain after a litany of concussion issues in his time at St Kilda.
McCartin has had to get AFL permission through its medical panel to progress back to AFL level through a series of stepping stones that included a return to training, then full contact training, then VFL football.
“He is back to normal and living a normal life. Twelve months ago if you listened to his (Triple M) interview he was struggling to do much at all, not leaving the house, and he’s back to living a normal life, which is great,” Tom McCartin said.
“He was seeing a bloke three times a week retraining his brain and I remember him saying it was harder than any pre-season training session he had done, so much concentration and it goes for five or six hours at a time, it’s pretty full on, but he’s only seeing him every three weeks so it’s going well.”
McCartin had said he was a “shell of a person” in an emotional Triple M radio interview in which he revealed he had lost his identity as a person due to his concussion symptoms.
But the intense work he has put into his rehabilitation meant he had few or no concussion issues last year during the pre-season with Sydney and then his handful of VFL games.
Sydney football boss Charlie Gardiner said the club was thrilled to give him another chance after he left St Kilda’s list in late 2019 by mutual agreement.
McCartin had suffered eight concussions in five seasons with St Kilda.
“Paddy has worked extremely hard over the past two years to get himself fit and healthy, and in a position to continue his AFL career,” Gardiner said.
“To his credit, he has overcome several challenges and ultimately his strong VFL form last season and commitment to training over the pre-season has enabled him to earn another AFL opportunity.
“At just 25 years of age Paddy still has plenty of footy left to play, and his rejoining the senior list will provide the club with the flexibility of another tall option who can play at either end of the ground.”
Originally published as AFL 2022: Follow all the pre-season signings and contract news
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