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WESTERN Bulldogs players will be forced to play VFL reserves under a selection policy enforced by affiliate Williamstown.
Cartoon by David 'Macca' McArthur. Herald Sun
The Seagulls will pick no more than 12 Bulldogs in any VFL match after the alignment soured last year, leading to an impending split.
The deal gives Williamstown greater selection control. It has declared it will pick a minimum of 11 VFL-listed players as it prepares to become a stand-alone club next year.
The policy is a temporary blow to the development of several prized Bulldogs youngsters.
Last week No. 5 draft pick Jarrad Grant, father-son pick Lachie Hunter and exciting prospect Fletcher Roberts were among five AFL-listed players who were fit but had nowhere to play after the Seagulls overlooked them.
With Dylan Addison, Easton Wood, Nathan Hrovat, Tom Williams and Matthew Boyd due back from injury in the next three weeks, that number is set to rise.
Of the 44-listed Bulldogs players, 33 are guaranteed a senior match each week, with the rest forced into Williamstown's reserves.
The Seagulls went on a recruiting spree in the off-season, headlined by AFL discards Justin Sherman, Cameron Wood, Brent Prismall and Leigh Williams, to reduce their dependence on Bulldogs-listed players.
Seagulls general manager Brendan Curry said he believed the selection was a fair split and his club had a responsibility to develop Bulldog players.
Curry will now meet with Dogs football manager James Fantasia each week to discuss which AFL players should be picked.
"We’ll take certain requests on board, but it’s a Williamstown call. There’s consultation and we’ll take a common sense approach,’’ he said.
Curry said the alignment had worked smoothly since last September.
Dogs football manager James Fantasia agreed the clubs were working well and said there was "healthy" discussion around team selection.
"We believe (Willy coach) Peter German does a great job in ensuring clubs’ priorities are met," he said.
Next year the Bulldogs and Richmond will join Geelong, Collingwood and Essendon in fielding stand-alone reserves side in the VFL.
DOGS LEFT OUT IN THE COLD LAST WEEK
Jarrad Grant
Lachie Hunter
Fletcher Roberts
Josh Prudden
Alex Greenwood
HOW THE SELECTION POLICY WORKS
- When up to 15 Bulldogs are available for VFL duties, Williamstown will pick a maximum of 11
- When 16 or more Bulldogs are available, Williamstown will pick a maximum of 12
*THE Western Bulldogs are considering a name change for their new VFL team.
A decision will be made during the season whether the VFL team will play under the club's original name Footscray.
But president Peter Gordon said last night there were no plans for the club or its senior side to revert to Footscray.
The club changed its name to the Western Bulldogs late in 1996.
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