World Footy News

Alex Aurrichio made another important step forward this evening when he was named in the Northern Blues VFL senior squad for this week. Aurrichio who played with the USAFL National Championship winning New York Magpies last season, has impressed in the first five rounds of the VFL Development League in 2015.

The Development league is mostly made up of younger players around average age of 20. Aurrichio playing mostly in the ruck is a little older at 25 and but in terms of his footy experience is a long way behind most of his team mates and opponents. So his learning curve has been steep and his application impressive. His 198cm, 105kg frame is not huge by AFL standards but in the VFL Development league is on the larger side. At VFL senior level he will be playing against more players used to handling opponents of his size.

Unlike other Americans who have played at VFL level he has made the trip to Australia without being placed on a rookie or scholarship list with an AFL club.  Over the summer he had stints with a number of VFL clubs before finally settling at the Northern Blues who are the VFL affiliate of the AFL club Carlton.

Aurrichio is named on an extended bench for the match to be played at Preston City Oval against Essendon’s VFL side at 2pm on Saturday.   The Essendon team have their own international in Irishman Conor McKenna who is an International Rookie drafted last year by the Essendon AFL club.  McKenna was scouted by the Bombers at the AFL Europe Combine.

Aurrichio also comes to this point from an AFL Combine.  He attended the AFL’s US Combine in Los Angeles in April 2014.  He was not one of the athletes chosen to come to Australia for the National Combine in Melbourne however.   But having been introduced to this new sport he thought he may still have a future in the game.  Returning to New York he hooked up with the New York Magpies and with a season of USAFL footy under his belt backed himself to give the game a crack in Australia for 2015.

No doubt Aurrichio’s goal is to be drafted by an AFL club in this year’s draft and there is probably no better way to showcase his abilities at the VFL senior level for the rest of the season if he can hold his own at that level. 

Aurrichio joins other Americans already playing senior VFL footy this season in Mason Cox at Collingwood and Jason Holmes at Sandringham who are both making strong impressions as mobile ruckmen.

If you can get along to Preston to watch him on Saturday he will be the big bloke in the navy blue with the American accent and the number 73 on his back.