Burr starts trek to AFL

By Marc McGowan
OPPORTUNITY is sometimes all a sportsman needs to shine.
Cranbourne footballer Anthony Burr dreams of playing in the AFL and knew something had to change in his life if he was to achieve that ambition.
Burr, 17 next month, left his mates behind at Kooweerup Secondary College to join Hallam-based Eumemmerring College’s sports academy this year.
His most likely path to the AFL is through local TAC Cup side the Dandenong Stingrays and his new school’s strong association with the club made the switch a logical choice.
Stingray officials Darren Flanigan and Mark Wheeler are heavily involved in the sports academy’s football program.
Burr, who played senior football for Kooweerup in the Ellinbank and District Football League this season, is an intriguing prospect.
He is now a three-time state athletics middle-distance champion after winning the under-17 800m title at the Victorian Secondary Schools’ Sports Association state finals at Olympic Park last month.
And Stingrays’ regional manager Flanigan is full of praise for the 184cm teenager’s football skills.
But one critical aspect is letting him down – his slight 67kg frame.
Burr is one of 62 footballers who start training at Shepley Oval next Wednesday after impressing Flanigan this year.
Stingray coaches will trim their list to 40 at the end of February and they will offer up to 10 others a spot in their development squad.
But Burr’s hopes of making the cut rest on him gaining at least 10 kilograms and that will not be an easy task.
The Year-11 student has plenty of people to speak to about his dilemma, with 2008 AFL draft prospects Aaron Purves, Shane Savage and Tom Gillies, an AFL trainee, all at Eumemmerring College.
“I need a bit more size. Ben (McGee, Eumemmerring College’s sports academy director) has already helped me with a weights program,” Burr said.
“It’s been a goal of mine to make the Stingrays for a while, but I haven’t been able to get the exposure until I came to Hallam.
“I wouldn’t be at the Stingrays if it wasn’t for Ben.”
Burr has had stints at Pearcedale, Beaconsfield and Kooweerup in his football career so far.
“Football is my life. It’s good being out there and playing a team sport with your mates,” he said.
“Making AFL is my ultimate goal, but that’s a bit far away at the moment and there is still a lot of hard work to do.”
Flanigan has no doubt about Burr’s promise, but conceded that his weight will be the biggest factor in his potential Stingrays’ selection.
“He has outstanding skills, is a fantastic athlete and has a real amount of flair as an outside half-forward-wing type, but just needs to put a bit of beef on his bones,” Flanigan said.
“His ability to physically compete is the only real issue. He has a good attitude, is a local kid and I’m reasonably hopefully he’ll make the list.”
If a burgeoning football career and three state athletics titles were not enough, Burr’s talent also stretches to the cricket field.
Eumemmerring College sports coordinator Sean Goss revealed that Burr is a certainty to score a cricket gong at the sports academy’s presentation night on 17 November.
“Burry’s basically an all-round, phenomenal athlete – he runs like a Rolls-Royce – it’s amazing,” Goss said.
“He’s a fantastic kid and has developed a great camaraderie there in the academy this year.”