A year ago, Angus Anderson was looking ahead to a season of footy with his local club, Sawtell, in the NSW North Coast league.
But things have changed a bit in the past 12 months. Last Friday, the 18-year-old from the small town just south of Coffs Harbour was playing for the Sydney Swans in the practice match against the Giants at Albury Sports Ground.
Anderson is still a member of the QBE Sydney Swans Academy, but he's shown so much promise that he was invited to pre-season training with the Swans and given special permission to play against the Giants.
"It was an amazing experience, travelling to Albury with the team and just watching how players like Luke (Parker) and Joey (Kennedy) prepare for a game,'' Anderson said.
"I'm still trying to work out my own routine so I was taking notes and writing things down that will help me in the future.''
It's that commitment and willingness to learn that has helped Anderson come ahead in leaps and bounds in the past year.
He moved from Sawtell to Sydney last November for pre-season training and is looking forward to playing with the Sydney Swans VFL team this year.
To reward his dedication and help with his re-location, Anderson has just been awarded Sydney’s annual Frank Burton Scholarship.
The Frank Burton Scholarship was first awarded to QBE Sydney Swans Academy members in 2017, to honour a much-admired member of the Swans community who died in 2015.
Frank Burton, the Chief Financial Officer for the Swans in the early 1990s and a passionate club member and fan for more than three decades, left a generous legacy to the Sydney Swans Foundation.
The Foundation, at Frank's request, allocated part of the legacy to an annual scholarship to assist Academy players to further their football development.
Anderson is honoured to be this year's recipient. "It will help tremendously, especially with living in Sydney, and I'm honoured to get the scholarship,'' he said.
The strong-bodied midfielder only joined the Academy in 2021, when he was invited down to training in Sydney by Academy Head, Chris Smith. He grew up playing both rugby union and footy but his love for AFL was fostered by his Melbourne-born father and his older brothers.
Last year he spent many hours travelling to and from Sawtell, nearly six hours north of Sydney, but is now living near the SCG with four mates from home, who are all playing rugby union in Sydney.
"It makes it a lot easier to have friends from home who've all been through the same issues moving to Sydney,'' he said.
"The first couple of weeks of training with the Swans were a big step-up from Sawtell but it's been great and my footy has already progressed so much.
"It's helped 100 per cent with my skills and my decision-making. I'm putting a big focus on the fundamentals, improving my ground balls, and kicking and handballing.''
Anderson had hoped to be drafted to the Sydney Swans last November but says he's doing everything he can to give himself a chance of being drafted this year.
"Last year there was a lot of uncertainty, but no-one gets picked for every team or gets everything they want. That's life, and it builds character,'' he said.
"Now it's all about how I perform in games, and I'm very thankful the Swans have given me this opportunity to do a full pre-season with them.''
