Libba and Wallis

[Bulldog1954]

Re: Liba and Wallis

My understanding is Wallis is very much considered a good prospect, whist Li'l Libba may be more romance factor than reality.

hooroo...

Exactly, Libbers son is a very very long shot to make AFL

 

[Dougie4Eva]

Re: Liba and Wallis

Exactly, Libbers son is a very very long shot to make AFL

Tom Liberatore is going to be a gun, and he's still growing. Watch this space!!!!!

 

[chef]

Re: Liba and Wallis

Tom Liberatore is going to be a gun, and he's still growing. Watch this space!!!!!

I've heard that Libba's son is more of a chance.

 

[scooter600x]

Re: Liba and Wallis

Exactly, Libbers son is a very very long shot to make AFL

Interesting comment. What makes you think that? Have you seen him play often?

Personally, I've never seen him play.

He did get named once as BOG for Calder last year (as an under 16) and was in the Vic Metro U16 squad so he must have something going for him.

 

[Chadley]

Re: Liba and Wallis

Wallias is a better player than libba imho , i have seen them play a fair bit. But what im trying to find out which most of you guys seem certin is that if we can use 2 f/s rules in the same draft.

 

[chef]

Re: Liba and Wallis

Wallias is a better player than libba imho , i have seen them play a fair bit. But what im trying to find out which most of you guys seem certin is that if we can use 2 f/s rules in the same draft.

If Essendon bid their first round pick(4) for Wallis and West Coast bid their first round(5) pick for Libba then we would have to use our first round pick(16) on Wallis then our next available pick(32) on Libba.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[brandy1023]

All father son action is done before trade week starts. They sit around the table and ask if any club want to name a F/S selection, the Dogs say Wallis and Liberatore. AFL asks if anyone wants to bid for Wallis, the Eagles say yes we want him for our second round pick(20), the AFL then asks the dogs if we want him for our next available pick which is (32), we say yes.
Then the AFL asks if anyone wants to bid on Liberatore, Essendon says yes they will bid their second round pick(21), The AFL then ask the dogs if they will use their next available pick on him, our third round pick(48).

Then trade week starts and we are unable to use our second and third round picks as they are already taken by F/S selections.

 

[chef]

This is from the NAB AFL Under 16 Championship last year.

Vic Metro were comfortable 75 point winners over Vic Country, with Thomas Liberatore, the son of Brownlow Medallist Tony, among Metro’s best players

Vic Metro 15.21 (111) def Vic Country 5.6 (36)

GOALS
Vic Metro: Conway 4, Toy 2, Farmer 2, Prestia, Wilson, Watson, Gordon, Caddy, O’Shea, Nichols
Vic Country: Pomorin 2, Cook, Russell, Keath

BEST
Vic Metro: Conway, Farmer, Liberatore, McKenzie, Jacobs, Toy
Vic Country: Hallahan, Macleod, O’Callaghan, Parker

 

[Bacharsbrother]

This is from the NAB AFL Under 16 Championship last year.

Vic Metro were comfortable 75 point winners over Vic Country, with Thomas Liberatore, the son of Brownlow Medallist Tony, among Metro’s best players

Vic Metro 15.21 (111) def Vic Country 5.6 (36)

GOALS
Vic Metro: Conway 4, Toy 2, Farmer 2, Prestia, Wilson, Watson, Gordon, Caddy, O’Shea, Nichols
Vic Country: Pomorin 2, Cook, Russell, Keath

BEST
Vic Metro: Conway, Farmer, Liberatore, McKenzie, Jacobs, Toy
Vic Country: Hallahan, Macleod, O’Callaghan, Parker

conway is a very good player, and he was abit stiff not to make AIS. when he got best in all the games in the carnival, hes a possible draftee and mckenzie and toy are possible draftee's aswell. its irrelevent to the thread but thought id throw that in

 

[chef]

Son of a gun may help heal Libba's rift with Dogs

Caroline Wilson | April 28, 2009

LONG-STANDING tension between the Western Bulldogs and former favourite son Tony Liberatore has been eased by the emergence of the 1990 Brownlow medallist's 16-year-old son Thomas as a potential father-son draftee next year.
Thomas Liberatore and his year-11 St Kevins' classmate Mitch Wallis, the son of former Bulldogs captain Steve, have been quietly recruited by the club's innovative father-son development program launched in January.
While Liberatore snr was unwilling to discuss his talented son — both Liberatore and Wallis starred in Sunday's Victorian under-17 scratch game at Victoria Park — he has spoken with recruiters and coaches regarding the potential father-son pick in 2010.
Late last year, Liberatore visited club president David Smorgon and apologised for his derogatory comments about the club that had him briefly banished from the Whitten Oval earlier in the year.
"Tony came to see me," said Smorgon, "and I told him why I wanted an apology and Tony apologised. I don't think there's any bridges to mend. At the time I was very disappointed but we would not want to lose any of our former players at this club.
"To think there's a possibility of drafting sons of any of our past players and champions is great. To think we could see another Liberatore or Wallis potentially at this club is something our fans would just love to see."
Both teenagers have been touted as genuine draft prospects. Not only will the 183-centimetre Wallis and Liberatore (181), who are also teammates at the Calder Cannons, come of age at an ideal time for the club given next year's Gold Coast-favoured draft but they have also been privileged to join a program that would not have been available to potential Bulldog draftees five years ago.
"Definitely not," agreed Smorgon. "Not only did we not have the staff or the facilities to monitor potential recruits but they probably wouldn't have been as interested in coming to the club as it was then."
The club's recruiting manager, Simon Dalrymple, and assistant coach Leon Cameron visited Tony and Jane Liberatore and the Wallis family in January and all parties left the decision of joining the elite new program to their sons.
"For Thomas his school comes first," Liberatore told The Age. "I don't want to get involved in any way shape or form, he's still only a kid."
Interestingly, the main focus of Liberatore's attack upon the club last year — chief executive Campbell Rose — has not received an apology from Liberatore and the two men are understood not to have spoken in recent times.

"I think its wonderful we are looking at father-son options and giving them plenty of time to develop and progress with our help," said Rose. "I haven't spoken with Tony but that's not an issue and there is certainly no issue with the Liberatore family."
"We were hoping to keep this quiet to be honest," admitted Dalrymple, who said both youngsters had spent time at the Whitten Oval over the recent school holidays with senior players, notably captain Brad Johnson, who played with their fathers, and Linsday Gilbee, a friend of the Liberatores.
"We have made it clear there are no guarantees, but when you look at the talent pool, these boys are definitely worth our time and resources. They are good kids and the whole purpose of the development program is to try and progress them as footballers and as people."
Liberatore, who played 283 games for the club and was selected in the Bulldogs' team of the century, fell out with the club over a failed superannuation claim in 2002. Smorgon declared him not welcome at Whitten Oval until he apologised to the club and, specifically, Rose.
Liberatore, in a radio interview in the 2008 pre-season, accused Rose of causing dissension at the club and being more concerned with making money than winning football matches. Last February he was ejected from Whitten Oval upon arriving with his West Footscray team to train, apparently without permission.

 

[chef]

In the game of the father

Caroline Wilson | April 28, 2009

TONY Liberatore’s sense of timing seemed to desert him towards the end of his playing days and in a public sense continued to do so once his time at the Whitten Oval was done. As recently as February he made news by turning up to train at his old home with the West Footscray team. But as the most restrictive talent pool in the history of the AFL draft looms, Libba and his 200-club teammate Steven Wallis could not have timed the birth of their sons any better.

Thomas Liberatore and Mitch Wallis are more than potential father-son choices for the club next year. The 16-yearold classmates are regarded as so promising that the club approached the boys and their families in January to take part in a development program which has already seen them take some tentative steps into the world of the AFL. In a move which has been
embraced by both boys — not to mention their fathers’ teammate and current captain Brad Johnson — the pair will spend a chunk of every school holiday until their 2010 D-Day looms at the Whitten Oval undergoing a series of medical assessments, core strength work and even
match reviews of Bulldogs games with the coaching staff.

Their kicking and handballing skills have already had some video scrutiny and they have been taking part in goal-setting exercises set for the club’s NSW scholarship holders. Liberatore appears to have made his peace with the club but was unwilling to discuss the relationship now, or the prospects of his son, saying he did not want to place any undue pressure on the St Kevins year 11 student who, at 181 centimetres, towers over his 163-centimetre father, who fell out with the Bulldogs administration after he retired.

Both David Smorgon, who has met Liberatore and told him he is now welcome back at the club, and Campbell Rose, who appears to have put Liberatore’s scathing criticism of him firmly into the past, appear cautiously excited at the prospect of this fortuitous cycle of life. Even as recently as the start of the 2008 season Bulldogs’ membership polls suggested the fall-out with Liberatore had put supporters off the club. Still the club has been careful not to make promises it cannot keep.Wallis, who played 261 games for the club which he captained in Mick Malthouse’s last season as the club fought for survival in 1989 — he also represented Victoria three times — has enjoyed a healthier relationship with his old home.

Smorgon recently approached him to join the Bulldogs’ board, an entreaty he turned down due to business commitments. Between them the pair played 584 games for Footscray and no amount of tinkering with the AFL’s most tampered with rule could see their sons go elsewhere should the Bulldogs want them.

Wallis, in the words of most football scouts who have seen him, is a gun. A powerful and speedy wingman, he missed most of the 2008 season with a broken leg and, like Liberatore, is a neat kick.

Thomas Liberatore is an inside midfielder known for his work at stoppages and his tackling ability. A Victorian representative at under-16 level last year he has been told he needs to work on his speed but should the young footballers continue to progress both are more likely than not to be nominated as father-son selections next year.

Recruiting boss Simon Dalrymple, who watched the boys compete in a scratch Vic Metro side in wet conditions at Victoria Park on Sunday while the Bulldogs were struggling in the rarefied conditions at Etihad Stadium, told The Age: “I’ve said to the boys there are no guarantees and that we’ll be looking at the whole talent pool. We don’t want to cross over what they are doing with their own teams and their own coaches but we are in a better position to know a lot more about them and complement their development.


“What we’re doing wouldn’t have been possible at this club five years ago. It’s such a quality facility now and the staff are so well qualified and the fact the talent pool will be so restricted next year makes it even more attractive should this work out.”

Even better timing for the club is the fact that while both boys turn 17 this year, neither’s birthday falls before the April cut-off date for the Gold Coast which has been given the pick of the best 17-year-olds in the competition at the end of 2009. Even the AFL struggled to clarify whether clubs this year could warehouse their 17-year-old father-son prospects should they be eyed by the Gold Coast this year.

St Kilda forced the Bulldogs to take Ayce Cordy, son of Brian, with its first-round draft pick (No. 14) late last year but even if a club nominated Wallis or Liberatore as a first-round pick choice at the end of 2010 the Bulldogs would sacrifice a much lower pick due to the Gold Coast concessions.

Say the club finished fourth, it would be forced to sacrifice only pick No. 22. At the 2010 draft the Gold Coast have not only nine of the first 15 draft choices but take top spot in each subsequent round. Cordy and his less organised pathway to the club — the teenager’s parents and club
officials had not enjoyed full and frank communication until relatively late in the piece — is one reason why the club has elected to form the father-son
development program.

Dalrymple laughed at suggestions that the fact of Scott West’s four sons along with potential playing off-spring emanating from Luke Darcy, Chris Grant, Leon Cameron and Brad Johnson also prompted the Bulldogs to take charge of their hopeful lineage. In fact Darcy, who joined the club in 1992, is the last successful father-son pick-up for the club.

Barry Round’s son David managed two games in 1997 and then came Cordy last year. The emergence of Thomas Liberatore and Mitch Wallis
has highlighted not only the speed with which the game regenerates itself but also just how far the club has travelled since their fathers were heroes
of the west.

 

[stefoid]

It really is quite lucky, and it looks like we are doing it right.

No wondering which dregs gold coast will leave behind - it will be wallis and libba for the dogs! lock it in!

Wonder if we can start a 'westy' dynasty like the selwoods (not the clokes)

 

[rodogs]

Exciting stuff.

I never saw Round Snr or Darcy Snr play for us- or Ted Jnr for that matter. Libba and Wallis were some of my fav dogs players- who'd have thought we'd get to see them playing in the same side again.

 

[brandy1023]

Exciting stuff.

I never saw Round Snr or Darcy Snr play for us- or Ted Jnr for that matter. Libba and Wallis were some of my fav dogs players- who'd have thought we'd get to see them playing in the same side again.

It is exciting isn't it. Good timing too, as well as a good mix with Libba an inside player and Wallis an outside player. Hopefully they keep developing and live up to expectation.

 

[cosmicr]

how did libba jnr turn out so tall?

 

[D Mitchell]

how did libba jnr turn out so tall?

181 cm. That's Callan's height, a touch more than Eagleton, 3 cm taller than Harbrow. Still under 6 ft. That's not tall by modern footballing standards.

Libba's genes will be meridionali. The lad's mother is of Irish extraction. Taller genes into the mix plus what makes all youngsters giants these days - good food and a mores spacious environment.

 

[2691617]

Does anyone have an update on young Libba and Wallis ? How are they travelling this season ?

 

[cosmicr]

181 cm. That's Callan's height, a touch more than Eagleton, 3 cm taller than Harbrow. Still under 6 ft. That's not tall by modern footballing standards.

Thats still way taller than his father - 163cm. What gives?

 

[Bulldog Joe]

Does anyone have an update on young Libba and Wallis ? How are they travelling this season ?

They are involved in APS Footy with St Kevins and reports on that comp are found in the following thread.

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=525604

This also gives some reports on Liam Jones (2008 Draftee) who is playing for Scotch College in the same comp.

Reports indicate all 3 with the Bulldog connection are going along nicely.

 

[ivan rassmussen]

Slightly off-topic, but Steven Wallis missing out on the Footscray Team of the Century is one of the great travesties of our history. Johnno took his spot in a highly political selection. I'm not knocking Johnno, but at the time of the team selection (2002), he had established himself as a good player up to that point, but not quite deserving of a TOTC berth. I realise he has moved into the upper echelons of Footscray greats since, but the selection was up to 2002, by which stage he had only had one or two standout seasons. Anyway, that's past history, but still a travesty. Go the Dogs...

 

[Poptart]

Thats still way taller than his father - 163cm. What gives?

You could say the same thing about Cordy, Ayce being as tall as he is, and Brian a 184cm back flanker!

 

[stefoid]

You could say the same thing about Cordy, Ayce being as tall as he is, and Brian a 184cm back flanker!

But Brian was heavier!

 

[Borgsta]

I find it strange that Libba doesn't even know the rules about his son being drafted.

 

[doggies ftw]

Wait if we do draft them both what year will they debut (if they debut in their first year)

 

[bambam33]

But Brian was heavier!

That wouldn't be very hard