PADDY Dowling hopes a move to South Australia will help make his AFL dream a reality.
The 22-year-old St Mary’s and Geelong VFL midfielder will head across the border next Monday after signing with SANFL club Glenelg.
Dowling says it’s an option he had been contemplating exploring during 2020.
“I had a thought of what it would be like outside Geelong and what life would look like,” he said.
“I was down at the caravan park in Lorne in January, and one of the blokes we camp with said he had a few contacts at Glenelg.
“Then I got on to Dave Ryan, who was an assistant coach when I won the flag in 2019 (at St Mary’s).
“He said, “leave it with me”, and at the start of February, the Glenelg footy manager called me.
“There was a couple of weeks of seeing what they had to offer. Then I flew over two weeks ago for a week to train with them.”
Dowling said finding a different path to the AFL after four years with the Cats’ VFL program was “in the back of my mind” when making his decision to leave home.
“Maybe moving to another state might give me more opportunity and a different look at it,” he said.
“That was definitely one of the reasons why.
“There’s always that doubt with AFL lists being healthy and minimal spots, and you’re trying to compete harder for your spot.
“At the end of the day, the opportunity at Glenelg, I couldn’t really knock back.”
Dowling says it was tough to tell both St Mary’s, where he came up through the junior ranks, and Geelong that he was heading off.
“Especially telling ‘Tweeds’ (Geelong VFL boss Nathan Tweddle) because I had a good connection with him,” Dowling said. “He always supported me and was a big fan of mine.
“They were actually pretty good about it. They understood why I was doing it, and I felt really supported.”
Dowling becomes the fifth departure from St Mary’s 2019 premiership team, joining Andrew Banjanin (retired), Kyle Reid (Leongatha), Jesse Travaglini (Southport), and former captain Jacob Welsh (Broadbeach).
Twitter: @tom_king79
