Matt Dea [merged]

[Ramps]

how do you see his kicking style and skills?

[mightytiges]

how do you see his kicking style and skills?

Hands are exceptional which shows his basketball background. Kicking not perfect but he always kicks to the advantage of his teammate. That's why I had him as a late pick. Plenty to work with but he needs polishing as he's only played 3 games.

[one-eyed]

Which sports star would you rather be?
abc.net.au
August 21, 2009

Would you rather the size and agility of Australian NBA star Andrew Bogut, or the poise and composure of AFL midfielder Chris Judd?

One of Ballarat's most promising young sports stars, Matt Dea, has to answer this question.

Dea is currently weighing up the options of either playing AFL in Australia, or jetting over to the US to take up a college basketball scholarship.

Playing both sports is not an option for Matt.

The pending decision has resulted in many sleepless nights for the 17-year-old but it's a dream scenario that countless young athletes would love to find themselves in.

At the start of the year Dea was given an ultimatum by his basketball club and told to make a choice one way or the other.

Despite being on the North Ballarat Rebels list he chose basketball, the sport he had grown up playing.

Dea played 11 basketball games for the Ballarat Nuggets in 2009 averaging just over 10 points and three assists a game, but he wasn't happy with his performance.

''The team didn't do as well as we would have hoped and my own personal performance wasn't as strong as what I would have liked, which was probably a contributing factor to why I thought basketball wasn't the right decision,'' Dea says.

Although football had been Dea's second choice for much of his life a successful campaign with the Ballarat Clarendon College football team and an unsatisfactory basketball season has led to a change in opinion.

''The last couple of years I've started playing footy and tried to manage the two [football and basketball] and basketball just took priority, and now it's changing again and I'm playing a bit of footy at the moment.''

Dea was a key member of Ballarat Clarendon College grand final triumph in the Herald Sun Country Cup on Wednesday, earning himself a call-up to the North Ballarat Rebels where he will make his debut on Saturday.

A solid performance this weekend may help make the decision easier for Dea and a football career may become the easier option.

''It's a bit more challenging getting an American scholarship but we'll see what happens and it will come down to the decision I make at the end of the year, whether to stick with footy or play basketball, but there's a lot of things you have to weigh up so it will be tough,'' Dea says.

"At the start of the year the main reason I was looking to go to college was for the free education and just a massive life experience.

" There are a lot of things that could go wrong in America like being away from family for so long, going over there and not getting played, so there are a lot of things I've been weighing up lately and thinking perhaps footy is the way to go.''

The football basketball question seems to be a common problem for Ballarat based athletes.

Just last year Miners starting point guard Ricky Henderson was drafted to AFL club the Adelaide Crows after playing basketball for much of his life, while North Ballarat Rebels big man Liam McInerney decided to take up a basketball scholarship in America despite interest from several AFL football clubs.

There's no certainty that Dea will get drafted by an AFL club and an American College scholarship isn't on the table yet but both parties have shown much interest and his future looks bright.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/08/21/2662826.htm

[one-eyed]

From: New challenge for Rebels' trio
By David Brehaut
Ballarat Courier
27 Nov, 2009

The Tigers secured Dea, of Mildura, at their next opportunity with pick 44.

Rebels regional manager Phil Partington attended the draft in Melbourne and spoke to Richmond ... officials immediately after selections were completed.

"They're rapt," he said.

"They had also shown real interest in Matt Dea for some time.

"There was always a big chance he'd go there (to Richmond)," Partington said.

[Dea] followed the draft at home ... with father Geoff, mother Jillian and sister Rebecca, 14.

Dea said he was struggling to come to terms with it.

"I can't believe it. It's unreal," he said.

Dea was focused on carving out a basketball career at the start of this year.

"It's a massive turn of events."

He said he had been extremely nervous before being drafted.

"It was a real shock when my name came up.

"I thought I was a rookie at best - I still can't believe it.

"I just want to get to training," Dea said.

http://www.thecourier.com.au/news/local/sport/football-australian-rules/new-challenge-for-rebels-trio/1689566.aspx?storypage=0

[Francois Jackson]

how do you see his kicking style and skills?

Hands are exceptional which shows his basketball background. Kicking not perfect but he always kicks to the advantage of his teammate. That's why I had him as a late pick. Plenty to work with but he needs polishing as he's only played 3 games.

kicking not perfect??

then how the hell was he selected with just a few games under his belt.

FJ must see something we cant as he did with 90% of the players he has drafted

[Owl]

Just from the highlights reel, he looked pretty good with his hands in the air and below the knees even under pressure.
His disposal looked ok for mine, didn't always pop it on the chest but usually got it out in front of a team mate to collect it.
He can only get better, I think he could be a pretty good get 

[tiga]

I can't see his late entrance to the game being an issue especially since he has elite athletic ability and contested possessions are a constant part of Basketball. After all Jacko, who was also recognised for his elite athletic ability was a rower.

[Danog]

His kicking is decent and he's only played 3 tac cup games.  He can only improve.

[Infamy]

Its not like he never played the game before this year. He played as a junior, then moved his focus to basketball in recent years and has now come back to football.

[Owl]

Trip to scout player makes Tigers' Dea
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/trip-to-scout-player-makes-tigers-dea-20091127-jwzo.html
Good article on how Jackson rates this bloke and how a few other clubs do too.  Mentions a bit on Free's nipper too.

[bushranger]

Another player that has originated from Richmond old recruiting grounds of Sunraysia.
It will be good to see him play for us.
I have to say that I'm going to bias here and say he will do well for us.
Congradulations to him for making the grade.
They don't a short interview with him on our local news and he kicked a footy into the Basketball goal.
But I don't know if it was just one kick or many.
Don't really know nothing about him apart from what I have stated.

[Owl]

sounded like there was a few keen and Jackson was trying to keep him secret haha.
I liked what I saw, he seems very calm and measured in everything he does.

[WilliamPowell]

Trip to scout player makes Tigers' Dea
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/trip-to-scout-player-makes-tigers-dea-20091127-jwzo.html
Good article on how Jackson rates this bloke and how a few other clubs do too.  Mentions a bit on Free's nipper too.

Yep it is interesting...

Here's the entire article 

=============

Trip to scout player makes Tigers' DeaEMMA QUAYLE
November 28, 2009 .

ONE Wednesday afternoon during winter, Francis Jackson drove to Ballarat to watch Ballarat and Clarendon College play St Patrick's College in a school game.

The Richmond recruiting manager was there to see Josh Free, the midfielder son of former captain Tony whom he was deciding whether to draft as a father-son recruit. Eventually, he decided not to. But the trip proved more than worthwhile.

That day, the recruiter's attention was grabbed not by Free but by his teammate at centre half-back. Matt Dea was tall, quick, agile and clearly a basketballer.

''That was the first thing that came into my head,'' said Jackson, who soon discovered that Dea not only played basketball but was very good at it, having represented Vic Country at under-18 level, played seniors for the Ballarat Nuggets and barely played any football in the past few years.

That prompted a second thought: how much footy had he actually played? Had Dea not played club football for three years the Tigers could have signed him as an unregistered player, so Jackson got to work investigating his background.

What followed was a bit of good, old-fashioned cloak-and-dagger recruiting.

With Dea's school coach working as a part-time recruiting scout for Adelaide, he couldn't go there for information. So he had his contacts in Dea's home town, Mildura, check him out.

The answer? It had been 2½ years since he was registered with any team. ''I crashed out there,'' said Jackson, ''but we kept watching him, and in every game we saw he looked just that little bit better. Every game we went to I'd be looking to see which other recruiting guys were there, it was all cloak and dagger, hiding behind trees stuff.''

As the end of the season approached ,Jackson thought he might, maybe, have kept his young defender out of other clubs' eyes for long enough. But - to Jackson's frustration - the North Ballarat Rebels promoted him for the final few games of their season.

Sydney and Collingwood became keen and Dea was invited to a state screening session following the draft camp, where he ran a 2.93-second 20-metre sprint and a level 13.5 beep test.

Jackson was even more interested but - not wanting other clubs to know he was interested - left it until last Friday to meet the 18-year-old, catching up with him in an otherwise empty cafe in Whycheproof, two hours from Mildura and three from Melbourne.

''I knew Sydney was interested and Collingwood flew him down on Monday, so there was a whole lot of intrigue for a kid who hadn't even played much football,'' he said.

''He's a really good kid, an intelligent kid and we were just hoping he'd manage to get through to us.''

He did - Dea became a Richmond player at the No. 44 pick. And Free? Overlooked for a father-son spot, he may yet get to wear a black and yellow jumper.

''He's another good kid and he's been training with us for two weeks,'' Jackson said. ''He's in contention for a rookie spot.''

[one-eyed]

Tigers put the work into recruiting Dea
Roger Vaughan
November 29, 2009 - 6:24PM
AAP

A few days before the AFL national draft, Matt Dea discovered the lengths that clubs can go to as they try to find recruiting gems.

Dea sat down with Richmond recruiting manager Francis Jackson in a country town cafe and quickly realised he had been the subject of a football espionage mission.

Jackson had been compiling information on the former Victorian country junior basketball captain while trying to make sure other clubs were unaware of his interest.

Jackson admits he sometimes hid behind trees while watching Dea play.

"I was unaware of it until I met with Francis a couple of weeks ago, he told me the full story," Dea said.

"I couldn't believe how much homework they'd done, it was pretty surprising.

"He did say `just keep it a bit quiet'."

Jackson's homework paid off, with the Tigers selecting Dea last Thursday at pick No.44 in the draft.

He was among seven youngsters Richmond drafted and they met their new team-mates on Sunday at a club barbecue.

Dea had combined basketball and football for a couple of years, but decided earlier this year to aim for the AFL.

"Because I've played basketball for so long, it was pretty tough to go living without it," said the big leaper.

"The initial month was pretty tough, but it's fine now, it's all footy ... it doesn't get much better."

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/tigers-put-the-work-into-recruiting-dea-20091129-jyps.html

[one-eyed]

Love of the game lures hoops star to Punt Rd
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen | Mon 30 November, 2009

MATT Dea (pronounced 'Dee') is no lifelong footballer, unlike most who get drafted.

The 186cm, 83kg Dea, who was taken by the Tigers in Thursday night's NAB AFL Draft at 44, is a late convert from basketball. He was skipper of the U18 Country Victorian basketball team and played both sports before deciding to concentrate on footy.

But it was the love of the game that got him back into the outdoor sport.

"I played basketball, and made the switch to footy late this year, and I guess it's paid off," he said at Punt Rd on Sunday afternoon.

"I've probably played about 50 games through my junior career as well.

"I only played three TAC Cup games this year, but that was good experience - so not too many, not as many as the other boys, but hopefully it won't show.

"I just started playing with the school side and started really enjoying it, and then the guys at the (Ballarat) Rebels started saying I should have a real crack, and here we are."

Those three matches with the Rebels in the TAC Cup were very frustrating for Richmond recruiting manager Francis Jackson, who had been watching Dea for a while and was hoping he'd just play school footy and go unnoticed by the other clubs.

But that was ruined when the Rebels selected him, so Jackson had another chat to Dea.

"I was unaware of it until I met with Francis a few weeks ago and he told me the full story," he said.

"I couldn't believe how much homework they'd done, so it was pretty surprising.

"But Francis just told me to keep it a bit quiet."

The 18-year-old is a terrific athlete with a tremendous leap, pace and clean hands, who doesn't mind putting his body in traffic.

He said it was already proving tough to live without basketball, where he played point guard, which is generally the quarterback role on the court, although he said he was uncertain how much of that would translate to the football field.

"You don't play footy for the money or for anything else, you play it because you love it," he said.

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/87672/default.aspx