Search

Dawson looks to drop anchor with Dockers

While Fremantle unveiled their new AFL draftees, the focus was more on the Dockers' hopes of drafting ex-St Kilda defender Zac Dawson.

While Fremantle unveiled their new AFL draftees on Monday, the focus was more on the training track as former Hawthorn and St Kilda defender Zac Dawson took another step closer to becoming a Docker.

Dawson, who has played 77 games in the top tier, was told at the end of this season that there was no room for him at the Saints, where he played in losing grand final teams in 2009 and 2010.

Former St Kilda coach and new Fremantle boss Ross Lyon is a big admirer of the 25-year-old fullback and taking him in next month's pre-season draft on December 13 is near certain.

Fremantle's senior development coach Simon Lloyd is hopeful the move will progress smoothly and he can make a big impact in the west.

"There's no guarantees, but Zac wants to be a Fremantle player. His girlfriend is looking for work here and he is settling, so we'll see," Lloyd said.

"As that tall type of defender, he was part of our list-management strategy and obviously Ross has a fair window of knowledge into Zac Dawson.

"It's something that hopefully will come to fruition in the coming weeks. Hopefully he ends up a Dockers player."

In last Thursday's draft, the Dockers picked up Tom Sheridan (pick 16, Calder Cannons), Hayden Crozier (20, Eastern Rangers), Alex Forster (29, Norwood), Lachie Neale (58, Glenelg) and Cameron Sutcliffe (71, Woodville-West Torrens) to top up their list ahead of the 2012 season.

Sheridan's dad, Brian, potentially had a VFL career ahead of him when he was with Essendon in the mid-80s, but a serious car accident ended those hopes even though he did make it back to play at a lower level.

His son has always looked up to his dad as he looks to make his mark in the game.

"Dad was at the Essendon reserves when he was 16 or 17 and had a car accident where he unfortunately broke both his legs and had plenty more injuries," Sheridan said.

"It just knocked him back with his footy and he wasn't able to compete at the elite level back then.

"It has guided me in the right direction to get me where I am now.

"The surgeon said that it would be it if he copped any more knocks and he would be crippled by the time he was 40 or 50.

"That was an inspirational story for me to listen to while I worked hard to get to where I am."

today's racing

Error occured
{{disciplineGroup.DisciplineFullText}}
{{course.CountryName || course.Country}}