Sarah Oliver
Darley is thrilled to have secured former AFL player Brett Bewley for the 2022 Ballarat Football League season.
The club announced last week, that Bewley, who started at Devils as a junior, before heading over to Williamstown in Victorian Football League and then to Fremantle for three seasons in the AFL, was returning to Darley Park.
Devils president Mark Shelly said after Fremantle decided not to re-sign Bewley for next season, the club let him decide what the future would hold for him.
“When he said he wanted to come back on board we couldn’t contain our excitement,” Shelly said.
Shelly said Bewley has “always been a hard worker” and that his main attributes that he brings back “is obviously his leadership, and attention to detail as far as his preparation goes”.
Bewley is expected to be a leader and mentor for the younger players, including his younger brother Jack Bewley.
“Teammates around him just walk taller” around him, Shelly said.
“I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for our club and for our younger brigade to train and learn alongside someone like Brett.”
Bewley comes to the Devils having played six games last season with Fremantle, with a groin injury and punctured lung holding up his season at the start of the year.
But Shelly said he’ll “have himself in tip-top shape for round one next year”.
Darley will also see key forward Nick Rodda joining the team full time, who played alongside Bewley at Williamstown in 2018.
Former AFL assistant Dan Jordan was recently named as the Devils coach.
Training begins tonight for the team, with the season expected to kick off in April next year.
