THERE'S no doubt the success of James Podsiadly at Geelong and Michael Barlow at Fremantle has encouraged AFL recruiters to cast their nets a bit wider in future.
And those looking to unearth the next star forward could do worse than noting down the name Grant Weeks.
During the past four months, the young wheat farmer from Colbinabbin has been leading the Bendigo league's best defenders a merry dance. In fact, Weeks' form for flag favourite Golden Square has been so good that a fortnight ago he became the first sharp-shooter to top 100 goals in the VCFL in 2010.
Now the 21-year-old, who is renowned for his vice-like marking ability, has the opportunity to further press his claims when he lines up for Victoria's major league team in the Australian Country Football Carnival, which starts in Canberra on Thursday.
Given the next two AFL drafts will be heavily compromised, with most of the top picks going to Gold Coast this year and Greater Western Sydney in 2011, a host of recruiting scouts are expected to watch bush footy's best in action. And Weeks is well aware that a couple of eye-catching performances could put him in the frame for a late call-up to the game's elite level.
"If anyone has stand-out games up there then they're going to get looked at," Weeks said before Golden Square's match against Sandhurst last weekend. "It's the best country players going around for the year, so it's a pretty elite group."
A brilliant junior footballer, Weeks seemed destined to reach the AFL when he was a teenager. He won Colbinabbin's under-17 best-and-fairest when aged only 15, and a year later, in 2004, he played in a senior premiership for the Grasshoppers.
His immense promise resulted in him gaining an invite to join the Bendigo Pioneers TAC Cup team. In 2005, he played as a half-forward for the Pioneers and was so impressive he won selection in the Victoria Country team that played in the national under-18 championships.
"After that the Pioneers blokes told me that if I wanted to get drafted I had to play in the midfield as well," Weeks said.
For much of 2006, Weeks held his own in a running brigade dominated by Joel Selwood, and he was once again selected in the Victoria Country under-18 team. However, his hopes of being drafted took a dive when he suffered a stress-fracture in his left foot.
"Most of the talk was about Joel and he was [a] long way above everyone else," Weeks admitted. "I knew I wasn't up to his standard. The injury I had - and it's no excuse for not getting drafted - made it tougher for me, as I needed surgery on it. I hoped clubs would overlook it."
Unfortunately they didn't. Weeks was ignored in each of the national, pre-season and rookie drafts.
Keen to keep playing at a high level, he ran around with the Bendigo Bombers VFL team in 2007 and '08, before deciding it was time to concentrate on other things.
"I'm on a farm - it's just me and the old man - so work commitments made it too hard to stay with the Bombers and make it to all their training sessions."
Weeks subsequently delighted everyone in Colbinabbin by rejoining his home-town club.
Last year, Weeks lined up as a permanent full-forward for the first time in his career. At the age of 20, he proved a class above most other players in the Heathcote district league, kicking 124 goals in 18 games, including 16 one afternoon against Huntly. He propelled the Grasshoppers into the grand final, and on the big day he booted six majors, yet his side lost to Heathcote by four points.
Weeks' stellar efforts at Colbinabbin caught the eye of Golden Square's new coach, Nick Carter, a veteran of 25 AFL games with Fitzroy, the Brisbane Lions and Melbourne back in the late 1990s. Carter and Weeks had run around together at the Bendigo Bombers.
"He'd had a good year at Colbo, but that standard of footy wasn't really where he needed to be," Carter said. "He hasn't come to us for money, he just likes the culture of the place. He could probably get three times more anywhere else."
Weeks has repaid Carter's faith in spades. Having begun this season by booting nine goals against 2009 grand finalist South Bendigo, he's maintained that form throughout the campaign, passing 50 goals in round six by slotting through 11 in a big win over lowly Kyneton. His performance against Strathfieldsaye a couple of weeks later was also notable, as Carter decided to test out his skills as a backman early in the contest.
"He told me before the game, 'I'm not manning up on anyone'," Carter joked. "After a while I put him back in the forward line and he kicked 12!"
Powerfully built although not particularly tall, Weeks went into the round-12 clash with Castlemaine needing eight goals to reach his century. He celebrated the occasion in style by bagging 14.
With the 100-goal milestone ticked off, Weeks managed only one major in Golden Square's round-13 meeting with Sandhurst on a very wet, cold and low-scoring afternoon.
But after fronting up to take on Gisborne yesterday, he's now preparing to strut his stuff in the nation's capital.
Weeks will be part of a talent-filled Victorian major league line-up (the Vics are also fielding a side in division two that is made up of minor-league players), which is to be coached by Hawthorn legend Peter Knights. During the four-day carnival, he'll run out alongside champions of the bush like Jarrod Edwards, winner of the past four Ballarat league best-and-fairest awards.
The opposition teams are sure to be very strong as well. In fact, the Vics were last year beaten by the ACT in the final, so Weeks will come up against some seriously talented defenders.
Yet if he can hold his own, there might just be a few scouts scrambling to track down his phone number. "It's not the be all and end all for me, but I would be rapt if it happened," Weeks acknowledged. "With two new teams coming into the AFL anything can really happen. It's pretty exciting for a lot of young kids going around in country footy."
By Adam McNicol
Article first appeared The Sunday Age, July 18, 2010
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