List Mgmt. Where are they now? (ex suns)

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Jirik13 said:
Bond University line up possibly the state's most formidable coaching trio in Andy Lovell, Matt Kennedy and Shaun Hart.

f8a0a527e79df99e242ad56ac54762b8


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So Bond Uni have turned their attention to gaining entry into the men's QAFL now? They've become a powerhouse in women's footy and I guess they want a greater piece of the local footy pie now. Not sure how others feel about this but I tend to think this is probably a good move for footy on the GC. Bond Uni seemingly have an endless supply of money and resources that they are willing to dedicate to their sports teams and you only have to look at the rise of their women's team over the last few years to see they are very serious about their sporting pursuits. It's a bit like the Southport Sharks if you were to remove most of the Sharks' history.

However, gaining entry into the QAFL won't be easy and will likely come at the expense of another Gold Coast team but I'd be happy to be proven wrong on that and see five GC teams in the QAFL competition. Securing Lovell, Kennedy and Hart as the coaching staff is a good start and I'd guess Bond will be the hot favourites to claim a QFA premiership next year. The Burleigh-Varsity-Robina region of the Gold Coast is growing very quickly and we're starting to see the emergence of the Burleigh Bombers as well as Varsity College as potential hotbeds for footy talent so I think this is a fantastic opportunity to nurture the juniors in that part of the GC without having to send them south to PBC or north to Broadbeach where they likely wouldn't have played any junior footy and have to adjust to a completely different environment.
 
GC2015 said:
So Bond Uni have turned their attention to gaining entry into the men's QAFL now? They've become a powerhouse in women's footy and I guess they want a greater piece of the local footy pie now. Not sure how others feel about this but I tend to think this is probably a good move for footy on the GC. Bond Uni seemingly have an endless supply of money and resources that they are willing to dedicate to their sports teams and you only have to look at the rise of their women's team over the last few years to see they are very serious about their sporting pursuits. It's a bit like the Southport Sharks if you were to remove most of the Sharks' history.

However, gaining entry into the QAFL won't be easy and will likely come at the expense of another Gold Coast team but I'd be happy to be proven wrong on that and see five GC teams in the QAFL competition. Securing Lovell, Kennedy and Hart as the coaching staff is a good start and I'd guess Bond will be the hot favourites to claim a QFA premiership next year. The Burleigh-Varsity-Robina region of the Gold Coast is growing very quickly and we're starting to see the emergence of the Burleigh Bombers as well as Varsity College as potential hotbeds for footy talent so I think this is a fantastic opportunity to nurture the juniors in that part of the GC without having to send them south to PBC or north to Broadbeach where they likely wouldn't have played any junior footy and have to adjust to a completely different environment.
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As a Varsity local I love to see this!
 
GC2015 said:
So Bond Uni have turned their attention to gaining entry into the men's QAFL now? They've become a powerhouse in women's footy and I guess they want a greater piece of the local footy pie now. Not sure how others feel about this but I tend to think this is probably a good move for footy on the GC. Bond Uni seemingly have an endless supply of money and resources that they are willing to dedicate to their sports teams and you only have to look at the rise of their women's team over the last few years to see they are very serious about their sporting pursuits. It's a bit like the Southport Sharks if you were to remove most of the Sharks' history.

However, gaining entry into the QAFL won't be easy and will likely come at the expense of another Gold Coast team but I'd be happy to be proven wrong on that and see five GC teams in the QAFL competition. Securing Lovell, Kennedy and Hart as the coaching staff is a good start and I'd guess Bond will be the hot favourites to claim a QFA premiership next year. The Burleigh-Varsity-Robina region of the Gold Coast is growing very quickly and we're starting to see the emergence of the Burleigh Bombers as well as Varsity College as potential hotbeds for footy talent so I think this is a fantastic opportunity to nurture the juniors in that part of the GC without having to send them south to PBC or north to Broadbeach where they likely wouldn't have played any junior footy and have to adjust to a completely different environment.
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A lot of info in the article. Yeah, the aim is eventually ending up in QAFL. The article mentioned that it's not easy, have to win multiple times.
Bond University will need to win multiple premierships in Division 2 and then 1 if they wish to eventually progress into the QAFL.
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Delisted by the Gold Coast Suns, 22-year-old Patrick Murtagh sat cradling a beer during ‘mad Monday’ commiserations in September, worried about what to do next.
“I was sitting down with the lads having beers and I was thinking, ‘These guys go back to the AFL next year, but what am I doing?’,” Murtagh says.


Once a decathlete good enough to finish sixth in the national championships, he was lured to footy and the Gold Coast Suns in 2019.

With a 196cm and 98kg body blessed with speed and agility, Murtagh was a project that could replicate the rise of Geelong’s Mark Blicavs from national hurdler to play-anywhere premiership player.



But after three years trying to forge a career, he hadn’t grasped a senior game for the Suns.

The project was over.

Little did he know, another football league had been watching.

Now Murtagh has his answer.

The NFL is what he could be doing in 2023.

*****

The NFL’s International Player Program (IPP) identifies athletes from around the world that could be successful in the NFL.

Former rugby league player, Philadelphia Eagle offensive tackle Jordan Mailata, is the most notable Australian graduate of the program.

Scouts from the program had been watching tapes of Murtagh with interest. They knew about the code switch and they liked his size and the way he moved.

When he was delisted, they inquired.

Just a week after his AFL dreams were over, he was offered the chance to attend a skills combine in London for international prospects.

The catch was those he would be up against had been working towards this for most of 2022.

Murtagh had two-and-a-half weeks to prepare.

Luckily, Murtagh was already an NFL fan.

“Dad and I used to watch it every weekend,” Murtagh tells CODE Sports.

Being Brisbane Broncos NRL fans, father and son started following the Denver Broncos.

Young Patrick idolised Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Peyton Manning and Emmanuel Sanders.

“I knew the game, I knew the basics, but I didn’t know much about routes and concepts and the specifics of it.”

Like a student with an exam, Murtagh crammed for London.

Zoom calls and in-person coaching with the NFL’s IPP development team ensued. The Suns allowed him to keep using their gym facilities to keep in professional shape.

“I thought, ‘One door is closed, this one’s open, I may as well put everything into it’.”

Despite the limited preparation, the international combine in October was successful. He may not have set records but he performed consistently well across a range of athletic tests.

“I was pretty happy with how my body pulled up and performed after a full AFL season. As you can imagine you can be quite sore after that.”

The NFL team also loved Murtagh’s attitude.

He was a team player who immediately hit it off with the peers he was ostensibly competing against. They thought he was the type of guy who could walk on to an NFL roster and fit in.

The majority of Australians to play in the NFL have used Australian rules kicking skills to become punters (or in Mailata’s case, rugby tackling skills to defend or run protection out on the NFL field). But Murtagh had been pegged for a skilled part of an NFL offence; a tight end.

The tight end position today is typically a hybrid role that involves blocking for the quarterback and running backs, but also requires the adaptability to be a receiving option. As well as being a big body, you also have to be able to sprint and catch. Tight ends are now stars in the NFL and command the limelight.




“They explained it really well, obviously with an AFL background all we do is catch the footy and that’s become second nature to me, I don’t think twice about it,” Murtagh says.

“So going over there and catching it, it was quite natural for me.

“They said they’ll work with that strength of mine and use it as best as possible. Being the size I am and I can move, they thought tight end was the best spot.”

*****

Murtagh impressed the NFL enough to get the call back he craved.

He is one of 12 hand-picked from that London combine who will head to the IMG Academy in Florida in January for 10 weeks of intensive training. Fellow Australian, Melbourne’s Talitiga Lachlan Amosa will also make the journey across, all of them striving to do enough in front of NFL scouts to be added to a roster as a free agent.

Will Bryce from the NFL IPP says they find Murtagh’s skill set and body type “intriguing”.

“He has the ability to create a mismatch on offence against smaller defenders where he can use the length and athleticism to his advantage,” Bryce tells CODE Sports.

“Pat has the ability to be a valuable piece to a modern-day NFL team.”

Since October he has stepped up the education and training.

More Zoom calls with the NFL to understand the intricacies of the game is his bookwork, while his practical work has been under the watchful eye of the senior co-ordinator of football development at the NFL and co-ordinator of the IPP program, James Cook.

He’s also studying tight ends, in particular San Francisco 49er George Kittle and Kansas City Chief Travis Kelce.

“Those are the two main ones at the moment,” Murtagh says.

“But I keep my eye on all of them and see how they move. The fundamentals of how they stand and how they block.”

While the AFL switch didn’t work out for Murtagh, it has given him the experience of learning a new sport on the run, something that has been useful over the past few months and has also impressed the NFL scouts.

“Athletics to AFL is different from AFL to NFL, but there’s some things that correlate to going across; learning the game, extra studies and that sort of stuff.”




It’s been a whirlwind few months, but Murtagh is acutely aware of the opportunity he has in Florida.

An AFL rookie contract was one thing, an NFL career would be different gravy altogether. Mailata recently signed a four-year, $64 million contract extension with Philadelphia.

“Yeah it’s just a little bit different,” Murtagh laughs

“I still live with my mum and sister and try to help look after them as much as I can. Leaving them and my partner for three months is going to be tough on them and myself, but it’s 10 weeks of my life that could set all of us up for the rest of our lives.”

He says the trip won’t be just about an experience, the practical goal is clear.

“There’s hopes and dreams of being drafted, so that‘s what we’re going over there for.”

If that doesn’t happen initially there are still options.

Teams in the SANFL are talking to Murtagh about restarting the AFL quest, but there will likely be further paths in America.

The NFL doesn’t see Murtagh and his peers as a one-year project.

If not signed by a team following the NFL Draft, they can be allocated as extra training squad members to teams under the IPP scheme, with leeway to be activated given their international status.

There is also the option of playing in secondary leagues to further their development for another run at the NFL in subsequent years.

“We’ll see what the NFL IPP team says as to what’s next if I don’t get picked up, but obviously the dream will still be to get picked up by an NFL team. Whether that’s one year, two years or however many.

“There’s always a pathway, and I’m willing to take it.”


For the next few weeks he will continue to be anonymously training in suburban parks on the Gold Coast, before he hits the IMG Academy in January.

“Just local ovals and the gym now. It going to a massive switch up in Florida – I’m so excited”

The worry after his delisting has faded into the background for now.

“This came up and now here we are. I got pretty lucky,” Murtagh says with a smile.

He may get even luckier in 2023.
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Two Things I took away from the article.

  • The Suns letting him use the facilities even after getting delisted to stay in pro shape. Love our club.
  • Whoever wrote the article didn't even mention the best Tight End in the NFL which makes me sad

For context this is what Murtaugh is expected to do at the top level
 
Jen2310 said:
Click to expand...
Big Red Machine said:
Two Things I took away from the article.

  • The Suns letting him use the facilities even after getting delisted to stay in pro shape. Love our club.
  • Whoever wrote the article didn't even mention the best Tight End in the NFL which makes me sad

For context this is what Murtaugh is expected to do at the top level
Click to expand...

Reminds me so much of the Joel Wilkinson situation. Both latecomers to Aussie rules but their athleticism allowed them to compete at the junior levels and were drafted by us as academy graduates. They were essentially both drafted as project players and the hope was that they would learn to play the game at a high level after a few years in an elite training environment but neither of them kicked on in the way we would have liked. Then the NFL comes knocking after seeing their athletic abilities and offer them opportunities to play American football, but not as punters. Wilkinson was being groomed to become a Cornerback and to his credit actually signed practice squad contracts with Arizona and New York but never made the main list. Now we see Murtagh being groomed as a Tight End and who knows if he's going to make it but you'd have to think the IPP Program increases his chances.

Would it have been a different story if the IPP Program existed back when Wilkinson was trialing in the US? Perhaps but we'll never know for sure. Best of luck to Murtagh but it's no secret that the NFL is probably the most difficult league to be drafted into so Pat will have to give absolutely everything to have a chance and even that might not be enough.
 
Murtagh must test well but apart from a few stints in the ruck I’ve literally never seen my use his athleticism on field.
 
Supersuns said:
Sebby Tape has retired from Southport
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Pretty good NEAFL/VFL career with the Sharks for Sebby after things didn't really work out with us. I think I can safely say we all had high hopes for him as a Sun but it just never eventuated and I think it's fair to say Southport certainly seemed to get the most out of him. Captained the Sharks to a premiership in 2018 and racked up close to 100 games for Southport, which is fair effort when you consider he would have had options to play local footy elsewhere. I'm a little surprised he's still living on the Gold Coast 12 years after we drafted him but obviously he loves it here and I always think we should send well wishes to any of our former players when they retire, particularly one that seemed to really give back to the Gold Coast footy community. Enjoy your retirement, Sebby!

southportsharks.com.au

Thank You Seb Tape | Southport Sharks

The Southport Sharks would like to thank Seb Tape for his service to the football club.Seb Tape informed the club earlier this year that he would be retiring from VFL level at the end of the 2022 season.
southportsharks.com.au southportsharks.com.au
 
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