R9 NAB Rising Star
May 27th 2008 01:01
Fremantle has produced its second NAB Rising Star Nominee with midfielder Garrick Ibbotson winning this week's nomination.
The 20-year-old was picked up in the 2005 Draft, and has played seven games since his debut last year. This type of slow development had been planned since he joined the Dockers.
"When I got drafted, the club said from the start that my first few years were all about development, and they had no intentions of me playing senior football because I was only 17 and hadn't played much," Ibbotson told afl.com.au.
"They said to just work on my development and keep improving, and when the time was right, I'd play."
Ibbitson only started playing Aussie Rules at 14 after playing soccer for seven years.
"In my first year of footy, I was actually playing soccer at the time and midway through the year I got asked to come and fill in for a mate's football team.
"From there, I played that game and then I played the rest of the year. The next year I gave up soccer and started playing footy.
"I didn't really have any intentions of changing sports at the start, but once I started playing football with the team, and I've always kicked footballs in the backyard and stuff, I just hadn't played with an actual team, I didn't really want to stop."
The midfielder received 21 possessions in his side's loss against Carlton.
He joins Bachar Houli (Essendon), Josh Hill (Western Bulldogs), Kieren Jack (Sydney), Ben McKinley (West Coast), Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn), Austin Wonaeamirri (Melbourne), Kurt Tippett (Adelaide) and teammate Rhys Palmer as contenders for this year's prize.
The 20-year-old was picked up in the 2005 Draft, and has played seven games since his debut last year. This type of slow development had been planned since he joined the Dockers.
"When I got drafted, the club said from the start that my first few years were all about development, and they had no intentions of me playing senior football because I was only 17 and hadn't played much," Ibbotson told afl.com.au.
"They said to just work on my development and keep improving, and when the time was right, I'd play."
Ibbitson only started playing Aussie Rules at 14 after playing soccer for seven years.
"In my first year of footy, I was actually playing soccer at the time and midway through the year I got asked to come and fill in for a mate's football team.
"From there, I played that game and then I played the rest of the year. The next year I gave up soccer and started playing footy.
"I didn't really have any intentions of changing sports at the start, but once I started playing football with the team, and I've always kicked footballs in the backyard and stuff, I just hadn't played with an actual team, I didn't really want to stop."
The midfielder received 21 possessions in his side's loss against Carlton.
He joins Bachar Houli (Essendon), Josh Hill (Western Bulldogs), Kieren Jack (Sydney), Ben McKinley (West Coast), Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn), Austin Wonaeamirri (Melbourne), Kurt Tippett (Adelaide) and teammate Rhys Palmer as contenders for this year's prize.
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