Bret Thornton and Ryan Hargrave smiled when they met last week.
Thornton, fresh out of the AFL, and Hargrave, with one season of suburban footy under his belt, will both line up for Deer Park when the Lions seek to defend their
division 1 Western Region Football League title next year.
And both are quick to mention they’re excited at the prospect of playing with Hawthorn premiership star Brent Guerra.
For Thornton, who played one game with Greater Western Sydney this year after 188 with Carlton since making his debut in 2002, the step back to suburban footy is perfect.
Asked about whether he’d given the VFL thought he said: “I didn’t want to play at that sort of level any more. I’m 30 now.
“There was no pressure on me at GWS. I knew after about round four or five I wasn’t going to play any more senior footy and I didn’t go up there for it, to be honest. It was more a mentor-type role for the kids.”
Thornton has connections at Deer Park dating back to his days with the Blues, and he says he can’t wait for the season ahead.
“This league is a good standard,” he says. “We’ll have our first run on December 4 and I can’t wait to get into it.”
Hargrave retired from AFL at the end of the 2012 season after 203 games, mostly in defence, for the Western Bulldogs. Like Thornton, he turned down the VFL and played last season helping Hillside to a division 2 flag and promotion to division 1 in the Essendon District Football League.
He said the move to Deer Park was for family reasons. “I live in Williamstown and I have kids so I wanted to play somewhere closer to home. I’d probably have stayed at Hillside otherwise,” he said.
“We’ll have a pretty strong side but nothing is ever guaranteed. It’s going to be a challenging year, but I’m looking forward to it.”
