Ex-AFL ruckman Laurence Angwin, pictured during a playing stint with Wyndhamvale, will play for Cranbourne in 2011.By Paul Pickering
CRANBOURNE has signed former AFL prodigy Laurence Angwin and its brains trust believes he could be a future coach.
Eagles coach Doug Koop last week hailed the arrival of the lanky utility as a coup for the 2010 minor premiers, saying the club was keen to look beyond Angwin’s chequered past.
Angwin, a first-round AFL draft pick in 2000, was delisted by Adelaide and then sacked by Carlton in 2004 after turning up to a recovery session under the influence of ecstasy. His troubled big-league career included four senior games for the Blues in the 2003 season.
But Koop, who is also a police officer, said Angwin – now 28 – had moved well beyond the issues of his AFL days and would bring valuable experience to the club.
“That was a long, long time ago,” Koop said.
“The poor bloke was hung, drawn and quartered by the media for one incident. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that there’s plenty of blokes in the AFL that takes drugs, but, unfortunately for him, he’s going to live with that for the rest of his life.”
Angwin, who was approached via a family connection to Cranbourne, has spent the last two years coaching Phillip Island’s under-18s following a short stint with Wyndhamvale in the Western Region league.
The former Bonbeach junior and Dandenong Stingray also spent a couple of years with South Cairns in the QAFL after his exit from Carlton.
Koop said Angwin’s decision to join Cranbourne was driven by a desire to win another premiership.
“He’s 28 and says he’s played 395 games or something for one premiership and he’d like to add a couple before he retires,” he explained.
“To be honest, he’s probably one of the most impressive blokes I’ve spoken to as a recruit, because he wasn’t interested in money. He just wanted to know what we planned to do and what his role would be.”
That on-field role is likely to include extended stints in the ruck and as a key forward, but Koop believes Angwin’s height and athleticism will make him a nightmare for opposing teams to match up on.
“Even though he’s six-foot-seven, he’s still got a fair bit of leg-speed, so he could play anywhere really,” the Eagles boss said.
“He hasn’t played for two years, so he might be a bit rusty early, but we think he can be a valuable acquisition.
“He says he wants to play with us until he retires and then he’s going to coach, so who knows, he might even take over the reigns from me at some stage.”
Cranbourne will kick-start its pre-season campaign by playing in an experimental round-robin event hosted by Ellinbank and District club Cora Lynn next month.
The Eagles will play a series of 40-minute games against powerful Gippsland clubs, also including Nar Nar Goon, Garfield and Drouin under lights on 5 and 12 March.
The event, dubbed 20/20 Footy, will carry a $3000 prize purse.
