Former Collingwood attacker and former Essendon defender join forces at new club

Former Collingwood attacker and former Essendon defender join forces at new club

Norwood SANFL club has confirmed the recruitment of ex-AFL players Cooper Murley and Alastair Lord, who left Collingwood and Essendon, respectively.

The recently de-listed duo return to the Redlegs after spending the previous two seasons in the top division, having been drafted as part of the dozen SANFL hopefuls recruited at the national intake at the end of 2021.

Lord, an 181cm defender, would leave Essendon with one AFL game under his belt, which came in Round 8, 2022 as an unused medical substitute.

During his time at Tullamarine, the teenager played 36 games for the Bombers’ reserves, and he now joins ex-teammate Murley and Essendon VFL captain Billy Cootee in relocating to Norwood.

Murley never played a game for Collingwood under coach Craig McRae after being selected with the 49th choice in the AFL Draft – one pick after Essendon recruited Lord.

This year, the small forward appeared in 20 VFL games for Collingwood, including a career-high three-goal performance against GWS in Round 8.

Norwood confirmed the signings of Murley and Lord on Friday, adding two more top-tier players to their team for the 2024 season.

“Cooper was a part of both our Norwood Junior and Senior programs in 2021 prior to being drafted by Collingwood,” Norwood coach Jade Rawlings said of Murley.

“We want to provide an opportunity and a place for our Norwood juniors to return to.”

“We met with Cooper to discuss what his AFL experience was like, and we couldn’t be more impressed with his view on his two years at Collingwood and the growth he was able to establish.”

Rawlings was ecstatic about the acquisition of Lord.

“As his old club, we hoped that he would want to return and play for us, but we don’t take that for granted and went through a thorough process with Alastair.” “We’re excited about his progress over the last two years,” Rawlings added.

“Him wanting to come back and wanting to be a part of Norwood, and strive to improve his footy is great to see.”

Norwood finished sixth this season under Rawlings, with six wins, 11 losses, and one tie in their premiership defense.