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Bock heads for brighter future

By Mr Dandalooa

Adelaide Crows’ Nathan Bock has been lured to the sunny coast of Queensland after incoming AFL team Gold Coast announced snaring the talented defender.

The Suns, who can recruit one out-of-contract player from each of the existing 16 AFL clubs, chose the 27-year-old who was overlooked by the Crows for the remaining two games of the season.

Crows football operations general manager Phil Harper said the club was disappointed to lose one of its top players.

“Nathan is an All Australian defender and he won our Club Champion award in 2008, so we rate him very highly,” Harper said.

“However, the Club recognises Nathan’s honesty and courage to come forward to the Club and his team-mates to inform them of his decision now. This allows the Club to plan in terms of list management for next year and also helps with selection in the next two weeks.

“This is obviously an unusual situation. Our circumstances - in not playing finals - dictates that while we totally respect Nathan’s preparedness to be honest and open about his intentions, we obviously need to make a decision regarding the wisdom of his selection over the next two weeks.

“In the end, to continue to select Nathan would rob another young player of an opportunity in our side - and opportunity which (in preparing for the future) we need to take.”

It is the first big-name player Gold Coast has landed from another AFL club, after Bock told the Crows on Monday that he would be joining Gold Coast.

Adelaide will not play finals footy.

Bock said his manager Ricky Olarenshaw had been negotiating with Gold Coast for some time and had been made an offer.

“As far as selection goes, I wouldn’t feel at all comfortable keeping a young player out of the side, so I totally understand and support the decision not to play me for the rest of the season,” he said.

Bock, who debuted in the AFL in 2004, played 113 games for the Crows after being recruited as a rookie from SANFL club Woodville-West Torrens.

Olarenshaw was this week reported as saying Bock’s recruitment was “an unusual case”.

“It happens in rugby league where players nominate which club they’re going to play for in the following year and they continue playing for their current club,” he said.

“This is all new. It’s unusual, but I’m sure that if the Crows were playing finals then I’d think they’d want him playing.

“I don’t think they would have put the pressure on with the finals approaching.”

Olarenshaw said the Suns turned their attention to Bock after the Crows’ Queensland-born key forward Kurt Tippett spurned their advances and signed a new contract with Adelaide.

Bock enjoyed his best-ever season in 2008 winning All-Australian selection and the club’s best and fairest award.