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THE Western Bulldogs might have found a ready-made replacement for Gold Coast-bound Jarrod Harbrow in 22-year-old Norwood defender Paul Puopolo.
But whether the Bulldogs want a like-for-like swap for Harbrow remains unknown.
Puopolo is one of the SANFL's most attractive mature-age draft prospects. The attacking defender had an outstanding finals series and was the Redlegs' best with 20 possessions in front of 35,000 fans in Sunday's Grand Final loss to Central District.
He breaks the lines off half-back and his core strength makes him almost impossible to tackle.
Western Bulldogs football manager James Fantasia said Puopolo - who made his league debut in 2007 - was among a group of mature-age players clubs would look at.
``Clubs have made a habit of identifying half a dozen or more mature players, those who have been in the system for three to four years, and he's (Puopolo) done enough to suggest he'd be in that category,'' Fantasia said.
Bulldogs recruiting manager Simon Dalrymple said there were ``positive signs'' from Puopolo but he was not completely sold on him.
``From my watching, his run and carry from the backlines is one of his strengths,'' Dalrymple said.
``But by no means is he over the line. There are parts of his game that need work, as does most of the draft pool.
``There are positive signs but you take into account his age and footy background, and that of plenty of others to work out where we position them.''
Dalrymple said the Bulldogs would assess their list after trade week to determine the type of player to target in the draft.
``We'll see how we're off for small to medium defenders.
``We've got some emerging defenders Christian Howard and Easton Wood . . . and there are plenty of clubs who don't have small defenders on their list and get away with it.'' Puopolo has also caught the eye of the Power this season according to football manager Peter Rohde.
``He's one of a bunch of players we've watched,'' he said.
``I'm not going to identify who we have a special interest in or not.
``No doubt like a lot of clubs we're looking at the state leagues closely because of the compromised drafts this year and next.''
Last year the Power un-earthed 20-year-old Cameron Hitchcock and Richmond drafted 21-year-old Ben Nason from the SANFL.
They combined for 36 games in their debut AFL season.
Similar in size to the 175cm Puopolo, both made an instant impact with their pace. Norwood coach Nathan Bassett said he was aware of AFL interest in his dashing defender.
``I don't know what will happen there but well done to Pauly if he gets drafted, if not we love him because his contested footy is great,'' Bassett said.
``I thought he was important when he came on to the footy in the last 15 minutes of the match (Grand Final) and gave us a chance.
``We're all into furthering people's careers and getting the most out of themselves as footballers.''
Puopolo has played 68 SANFL games and 2010 was by far his most consistent season after shedding 6kg over summer
But whether the Bulldogs want a like-for-like swap for Harbrow remains unknown.
Puopolo is one of the SANFL's most attractive mature-age draft prospects. The attacking defender had an outstanding finals series and was the Redlegs' best with 20 possessions in front of 35,000 fans in Sunday's Grand Final loss to Central District.
He breaks the lines off half-back and his core strength makes him almost impossible to tackle.
Western Bulldogs football manager James Fantasia said Puopolo - who made his league debut in 2007 - was among a group of mature-age players clubs would look at.
``Clubs have made a habit of identifying half a dozen or more mature players, those who have been in the system for three to four years, and he's (Puopolo) done enough to suggest he'd be in that category,'' Fantasia said.
Bulldogs recruiting manager Simon Dalrymple said there were ``positive signs'' from Puopolo but he was not completely sold on him.
``From my watching, his run and carry from the backlines is one of his strengths,'' Dalrymple said.
``But by no means is he over the line. There are parts of his game that need work, as does most of the draft pool.
``There are positive signs but you take into account his age and footy background, and that of plenty of others to work out where we position them.''
Dalrymple said the Bulldogs would assess their list after trade week to determine the type of player to target in the draft.
``We'll see how we're off for small to medium defenders.
``We've got some emerging defenders Christian Howard and Easton Wood . . . and there are plenty of clubs who don't have small defenders on their list and get away with it.'' Puopolo has also caught the eye of the Power this season according to football manager Peter Rohde.
``He's one of a bunch of players we've watched,'' he said.
``I'm not going to identify who we have a special interest in or not.
``No doubt like a lot of clubs we're looking at the state leagues closely because of the compromised drafts this year and next.''
Last year the Power un-earthed 20-year-old Cameron Hitchcock and Richmond drafted 21-year-old Ben Nason from the SANFL.
They combined for 36 games in their debut AFL season.
Similar in size to the 175cm Puopolo, both made an instant impact with their pace. Norwood coach Nathan Bassett said he was aware of AFL interest in his dashing defender.
``I don't know what will happen there but well done to Pauly if he gets drafted, if not we love him because his contested footy is great,'' Bassett said.
``I thought he was important when he came on to the footy in the last 15 minutes of the match (Grand Final) and gave us a chance.
``We're all into furthering people's careers and getting the most out of themselves as footballers.''
Puopolo has played 68 SANFL games and 2010 was by far his most consistent season after shedding 6kg over summer
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