Welcome to the Bulldogs: James O'Donnell

[bornadog]

It's great to see us taking a punt on a cat B rookie. We seem to have been either unwilling or unable to get involved in other sport converts or overseas players since the Fiji experiment. The NGA kids like Buku and Raak are a completely different proposition.

As for O'Donnell another developing KPD to pair with Busslinger in the coming years would be ideal.

we really do need to develop some young KPD. Hopefully James can play

[Grantysghost]

It's official.

Bulldogs sign ex-cricketer as Rookie



The Western Bulldogs have signed former cricketer James O'Donnell as a Category B Rookie.

A talented athlete across his junior years, O'Donnell was pursuing a career in cricket via the district competition for Essendon, playing alongside brother Tom, who is currently in the Victorian squad.

The 20-year-old will become a third generation VFL/AFL player with his Grandfather (Kevin) and father (Simon) playing games for St Kilda during the 1940's and 1980's respectively.

Simon O'Donnell also represented Australia in cricket, playing six test matches and pulling on the green and gold 87 times in ODI cricket during his career.

O'Donnell comes to the Bulldogs with a previous background in football, having played alongside defender Luke Cleary and North Melbourne midfielder Will Phillips in the Victorian Under 12 schoolboys football side.

Previously, O'Donnell had also played junior football for Kew and Xavier College before deciding to pursue cricket, having not played a match since 2019.

Bulldogs National Recruiting Manager, Dom Milesi was thrilled to secure O'Donnell after following the youngster closely in the event that football became an option.

We've had our eye on James across the year and we're really excited that he's chosen to return to football with the Western Bulldogs, Milesi said.

James has a really strong athletic profile at 197cm and 88kg, having a significant growth spurt since last playing football, bringing some versatility to our list.
Everyone is looking forward to welcoming him to the Club and watching him developing in the coming years.

O'Donnell becomes the first alternate athlete signed by the Western Bulldogs as Category B Rookie and is now an additional player on the playing list.

He will arrive at VU Whitten Oval on Friday, April 7.

[Bulldog Joe]

Alex Keath had since alright for a tall cricket convert as well

Keath did play footy right up to draft age and was an initial Gold Coast listed player.

He rejected that for a cricket contract.

[D Mitchell]

Both his father and grandfather played for St Kilda, I wonder if it rankles, think Sam Darcy. Simon kicked 100 goals in a season in his final year at school, a feat bettered a few years later by Billy Brownless (150 goals). "How did you go in Matric, Billy ?" "I kicked 100 goals". Simon scored centuries in his first game for Victoria in 1984 and in his first game at Lords, against MCC. James has a good sporting pedigree. A good prospect. Someone at the Club is astute, keeping an eye on him.

[Happy Days]

There’s a maybe 1% chance this works but that’s exactly what the Cat B list is for. There’s been a sense about the club being unwilling to take this sort of swing in the past so I’m counting this as a breath of fresh air.

[Rocco Jones]

There’s a maybe 1% chance this works but that’s exactly what the Cat B list is for. There’s been a sense about the club being unwilling to take this sort of swing in the past so I’m counting this as a breath of fresh air.

This. Well hoping it's more than 1%.

[derb]

I wonder if he will play this weekend?

[Sedat]

There’s a maybe 1% chance this works but that’s exactly what the Cat B list is for. There’s been a sense about the club being unwilling to take this sort of swing in the past so I’m counting this as a breath of fresh air.

I'll gladly take the 1% option over the 0.00000000001% option from our wildly optimistic and rather ill-fated Fijian sojourn about a decade ago.

[Happy Days]

I'll gladly take the 1% option over the 0.00000000001% option from our wildly optimistic and rather ill-fated Fijian sojourn about a decade ago.

Did that guy we picked up ever make it out of exile?

[macca]

This is a good Low risk investment with good upside potential , ticks a lot of boxes :
1. Good footy pedigree : dad and grandpa played vfl
2. Athletic traits
3. Has played elite sports
4. Alex Keath can help with support and transition , as someone who has gone through the same system
5. Our staff have done analysis and picked up someone local

I feel very positive on this

[bulldogtragic]

Did that guy we picked up ever make it out of exile?

Inoke Ratu last I heard was playing average local footy down Geelong league.

[Axe Man]

Did the players used to have a cricket match against the Melbourne Storm years ago? With O'Donnell, Keath and Cleary we would wipe the floor with them!

[mjp]

we really do need to develop some young KPD. Hopefully James can play

Well, we've taken two in the past 6-months now - potentially 3 in the past 18 months depending on how you see Darcy - so you can't accuse the club of not trying to get ahead of the game on this.

[bornadog]

Well, we've taken two in the past 6-months now - potentially 3 in the past 18 months depending on how you see Darcy - so you can't accuse the club of not trying to get ahead of the game on this.

Yes and with Croft coming in next year, plus JUH, the future is bright for KPD's/talls. Power seems to have a plan

[soupman]

Very happy with this. This is the kind of low cost (in terms of draft capital and list spots) chances the club should be taking.