Aussies in NBA: Bogey tips Fremantle for AFL Premiers

Andrew Bogut is a busy, busy man. The NBA playoffs are coming soon, and his Golden State Warriors are now within reach in making NBA history. After beating my Dallas Mavericks earlier today, they need eight more wins from their remaining ten regular season games to beat the 95-96 Chicago Bulls record for most Ws in a season. With a 90% win rate so far, I'm not betting against them, but it'll still be tough for Bogues and his teammates.

Still, with the new AFL season kicking off, Bogey found the time to have a chat with Scott Cooper of Starting 5 Online about what he expects will happen this season.

When asked about defending three-peat champs, the Hawthorn Hawks, Bogut had nothing but praise. As an NBA champion himself, he's better placed than many to understand the hardships and sacrifices needed to get to the pinnacle.

“They’re an unbelievable outfit to go three-peat in Australian Rules Football, with the window so small to keep your squad together," Bogut commented. "They are getting a little bit older now but they keep their guys relatively healthy and they make little tweaks along the way, year on year they pick up a couple of good players here and there and it’s a credit to their management and the way they ran things.”

He wasn't quite as optimistic about his own Essendon Bombers' chances for this season, but insists that the light's at the end of the tunnel.

“There’s a lot of distractions with our club right now, but we’ve picked up some veteran guys that will make us competitive, but it’s been a pretty tough time for a Bomber fan,” Bogut said. “I’ll still be supporting them and hoping they do well, but success-wise, it might be a bit tough this season.

“It’s a great opportunity for the top-up players,” he continued. “A lot of the top up players were out of the AFL in different leagues around Australia – similar to the D-League here – so to get that opportunity, there might be some silver lining where they find some guys that have 4-5 good years left in them.”

Bogut does not however, see the Hawks running a four-peat with yet another premiership this season. He rounded things off by predicting that 2015 minor premiership holders, the Fremantle Dockers would break Hawthorn's streak to become this year's AFL premiers.

"They might finally get over the line," said Bogey with a smile.

The Fremantle Dockers play their first game against the Western Bulldogs on 27 March, Sunday at 1:10pm.

Check out the original interview, along with Bogey's AFL tips for the season on Starting 5.