Murray Bushrangers Captain Nick Mellington has been selected to play VFL for the Richmond Football Club this weekend.
Mellington from Benalla Football Club has been in scintillating form in his past three TAC CUP games and will play against the Collingwood Football Club on Saturday afternoon.
Murray Bushrangers Talent Manger Lee Fraser emphasized the strong alignment between the TAC CUP and AFL clubs. “As a club we work closely with AFL clubs regarding our playing list, we have been liaising with the Richmond Football Club throughout the season with a clear plan to promote our in-form players into their VFL program’.
‘Nick missed a period of the pre-season due to illness and there is no doubt his running capacity has improved as the season has progressed. The Club’s High Performance Manager Matt Glossop notified the match committee on Monday that Nick recorded career high GPS results in the last round, as all of our players know there is a strong relationship between work rate and performance’.
‘Nick is an outstanding leader of the group and whilst he will be missed over the next few weeks, a clear priority of our club is to provide these opportunities to talented footballers within our region’‘The game day experience will be a highlight; Nick will also be involved in training sessions and team meetings during the week. It is a great opportunity for a young footballer within the region to experience an AFL environment’
Mellington is likely to play a role through the midfield and across half forward in what is a great opportunity to impress recruiters ahead of this year’s National Draft.
Fraser hinted that there would be more VFL opportunities as the season progressed. ‘Darren Ogier and myself will continue to liaise with AFL clubs on a weekly basis and identify VFL opportunities throughout the remainder of the 2014 season’
The Bushrangers 19 year old trio in Nathan Drummond (Mooroopna), Dan Howe (Rennie) and Kieran Ellis (Albury) are all likely to receive opportunities later in the season.
Last Modified on 24/06/2014 22:04