Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault lose 2021 best and fairest Ty Anderson as departure list grows

The Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault Football Club has been hit with another big blow going into the 2022 season, with last year’s best and fairest Ty Anderson taking his talents to WAFL club Peel Thunder. Anderson said now was the time to take his football to the next level and he was full of self-belief after a stellar year in which he finished sixth in the Hayward Medal. “It definitely gave me a bit of a confidence boost and all the people around me have been letting me know I can go further so I thought why not give it a crack and see where it goes,” he said. The 21-year-old said he made the decision in November and WAFL football was something he had always wanted to try his hand at. The 2021 Tony Carbone Medallist joins fellow 2019 premiership players Jesse Crichton and Sean Bradley as well as Joel Latham and Tristan Ramshaw who will all head elsewhere for season 2022. Having played at the Lions for most of his career, Anderson said Brunswick Oval would always be his home. “The club is always going to be there for me, and they were all for it,” he said. Bradley is set to head to Perth Football League club Scarborough alongside Latham, while Ramshaw will join Anderson at the Thunder. The four departures follow the announcement from South Bunbury last Monday they had acquired former Fremantle Docker Jesse Crichton — a move that surprised some people given the 2019 Hayward Medallist announced his intentions to return to WAFL club East Fremantle last November. HBL president Tristan Maslin said Crichton had reached out to the Lions when he decided he would not be pursuing another stint in the WAFL, but the two parties ultimately decided to part ways. “Jesse has done what is best for him and his family and the South Bunbury offer probably suits him better than what ours did, which is fine,” he said. “Since October last year, we have been planning for life without Jesse because he had said he may not come back because he was going to East Freo. “We would wish him all the best wherever he plays, whether it be at another South West club or in another competition.” Meanwhile, cross-town rivals Harvey have also lost the services of two key players, with former captains Brendon Jones and Jay Collard both leaving the club. The pair have both signed with Peel Football League club Mandurah, while the Mustangs have also signed former Eaton Boomer Chris Luff.