Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong goalkicking machine Riley Corbett will play with Canberra Demons this season.
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The 18-year-old weighed up options across several state leagues but will become the latest Riverina product to join Canberra’s North Eastern Australian Football League (NEAFL) club.
Corbett has been accepted into university at Canberra, where he will study architecture, and that was one of several factors that pushed him the Demons way.
“There were three or four factors and uni was one of them,” Corbett said.
“I was looking at Adelaide and Melbourne as well but Canberra is nice and close to home.”
The Demons has become a breeding ground for Riverina talent in recent years.
Mitch Maguire, Lucas Meline, Mitch Hardie and Jacob Turner are just some of the men who have taken their game to new heights at Canberra in the last couple of seasons and Corbett becomes the second Riverina League player to join the club this off-season after Collingullie midfielder Matt Klemke signed there last month.
Corbett set the Riverina League alight this season, becoming one of the youngest footballers to win the competition’s leading goalkicker award with 70 goals from 14 games.
He received some interest from AFL clubs but was overlooked. Corbett is now looking forward to taking the next step at NEAFL level.
“I had a couple of interviews but they didn’t sound overly keen,” Corbett said.
“I’m pretty keen (to play NEAFL). The last couple of years I played a couple of games (for the Giants) and obviously haven’t played very well so I’m keen to show what I can do at that level.
“I’m pretty excited for it and actually training with the one team during the week and playing for one team on the weekend.”
Corbett said it was a tough decision to leave the Lions, where he has thoroughly enjoyed playing, especially this season.
Corbett will move to Canberra on Sunday and begin pre-season with the Demons next week.
The full-forward is the Lions’ first departure of the off-season after making the preliminary final last year.
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