Toast Welcome to the SUNS, Zak Evans (Cat B Rookie)

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Luring former Victorian cricketer Zak Evans to the Gold Coast was a small step in a bigger goal of starting to attract talent to the Suns, according to coach Damien Hardwick.
Evans, 24, who played Sheffield Shield level and with the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash, joined the Suns as a category B rookie.

In the club’s 14th AFL season, Hardwick lauded the enhanced ability of club staff to retain key players after an exodus through their early years in the AFL.

While Hardwick conceded Evans, who played alongside the likes of AFL star Bailey Smith at Xavier College in 2018, had some work to do to get AFL ready, he said choosing the Suns over North Melbourne was a good indicator the Queensland club was doing something right.

“Our players made him feel really welcome, we’ve got a great environment,” Hardwick said on Thursday.

“Our retention of players has become paramount and really important to where we are today. Now we just have to start a

“He knows the game, he’s played the game, he’s had some time off. He’s got a unique skill set, he’s explosive, he uses the ball really well. It’s going to take some time, he hasn’t played a level as high as this, but we are excited to give him the opportunity.”

 
Zak Evans’ last game of competitive football was playing for the Xavier College school team in 2018 when they travelled to Brighton for the final game of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria season.

He hopes his next is in the AFL after choosing Gold Coast over North Melbourne to become the game’s latest Category B rookie.

The Victorian fast bowler, who has best figures of 5-33 on his record for the Melbourne Renegades, chose cricket over football as an 18-year-old, as Will Sutherland did a year earlier despite AFL recruiters believing he would have been in a top-five pick in the national draft.

Evans was behind the likes of Sutherland, James Pattinson, Scott Boland and Peter Siddle over the years – a cartel of fast bowlers Evans found hard to get past.
“I got to the end of last season and, it’s not that I lost the passion for cricket, I just had this nagging feeling that I’ve had since year 12,” Evans told The Scoop this week. “It was this opportunity of footy. I wanted to go back to it. The interest started peaking.”
So, after injuries and selection issues finally took their toll, Evans and his manager James Murch turned to high-profile player agent Paul Connors.
Although the only footage that exists of Evans playing is of school-level games, two clubs immediately became interested.
He met with North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson and was given a tour of
Arden Street, but there was something about his 36-hour experience on the Gold Coast that gave him a special feeling.


“For me, both clubs were unreal experiences,” Evans said.
“But the culture I found at the Gold Coast, I just loved it. I got along with most of the boys as soon as I arrived there. The coaching staff, including Dimma (Hardwick) himself, all made me feel comfortable – it was all looking really promising.
“I had the passion to join something that I thought could be really special.”
During that same year of school footy in 2018, Evans played alongside Western Bulldogs star Bailey Smith.

Xavier lost the premiership that year to the Matthew Lloyd-coached Haileybury, a team with the likes of Ben King (Max was injured during year 12 with a ruptured ACL), Liam Stocker and Cody Weightman.
One man watching on in Brighton during Evans’ last game of football was Luke Ball.
The former St Kilda and Collingwood champion knows all about the choice between football and cricket. Some people say Ball was so talented as a cricketer that he was being touted as a future Test batsman for Australia.


But Ball, who was also managed by Connors, chose the large oval ball over the smaller, round one.

Ball was coaching Xavier as an assistant that year under his brother Matt.
“Athletically, Zak was supremely gifted. A good size, fast and agile, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if he made an impact early on at AFL level,” said Ball.
But he hasn’t actually been allowed to play.
Under AFL rules, had Evans played football at any level, he would no longer be classified as a Category B rookie, and thus would have to nominate for the draft with everyone else.
So, Zak has gone back to where it all began.


He has been training on Tuesday and Thursday nights with Old Xaverians at Toorak Park. He can train as much as he likes, but he just can’t play.

The rules are also strict at AFL level. Technically, Evans can’t sign as a Gold Coast player until July 1. While he’s allowed to visit the club, he won’t be permitted to train or play at any level until the start of the next pre-season.

As a junior footballer, Evans played everywhere.

He was often deployed in key-position posts at either end of the ground, but his raw speed and power meant he was a tantalising prospect as a part-time midfielder.

Either way, both North Melbourne and Gold Coast had seen enough that they were willing to, first, meet with him and, second, offer him a contract.
Matt Ball, who played 17 games for Hawthorn in the early 2000s, was Evans’ last senior coach.
“The two key features of Zak that are attractive for AFL footy are his athletic ability, combined with a pretty ferocious competitiveness.
“To be honest, I’m shocked there were only two clubs that showed meaningful interest.”

Evans will continue to train for Old Xavs and will increase his level of personal training to be fit and firing for the start of next pre-season.
He’s not the first player to have picked cricket only to return to football. Alex Keath has played over 100 AFL games – including five finals – since making the switch. And Wil Parker made his debut for Collingwood this year after playing for Victoria.
And Evans said he will miss cricket as he forges ahead in the next phase of his sporting life.
“It’s been a part of me ever since I can remember,” he said.
“I have had, and will continue to have, a lot of good mates within cricket. Cricket has almost shaped me as a person, to be honest.”

But not for the first time, cricket’s loss may be football’s gain.
 
Interesting. It's not unheard of for a cricketer to do well at cricket, even if I don't quite understand the transferable skillset. A little concerned that he only played private school footy and not U18 championships or Vic Talent League so there isn't a big sample size. The good thing is he gets to have a 9 month long preseason to re-familiarize himself with the game again.
 

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Toast Welcome to the SUNS, Zak Evans (Cat B Rookie)

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