Former Geelong defender Harry Taylor set to play for Northampton in GNFL this year

Geelong legend Harry Taylor is understood to have signed for Northampton in 2021. Northampton-born Taylor finished a glittering 280-game AFL career with the Cats in their grand final loss to Richmond in October. An under-aged player with the Rams, Taylor is believed to have signed with the GNFL club yesterday. He played with Rovers in the league side before moving to East Fremantle. The Cats took him with pick 17 in the 2007 national draft. Taylor, 34, has played his movements close to his chest pre and post the AFL grand final, not even announcing his retirement as a player until a week after the grand final. However, for years, he and another former Northampton junior, West Coast Eagles star Josh Kennedy, have talked about finishing their careers at the club where they started. “I made a promise to Harry a few years back,” Kennedy said in August. “And when you’re from Northampton and you make a deal, you don’t go back on it. “We’ll definitely be back in Northampton one day having a kick and a bit of fun.” So now the Rams have achieved the first leg of a much sought double. Northampton last month announced it had appointed Beau Walker, 27, a two-time winner of the Mulrooney Medal as the best and fairest player in the AFL Canberra league, as its coach. In other news, Will Schofield, a member of the West Coast Eagles premiership side in 2018, is believed to be in talks with Brigades about playing this year. Two other Schofields, former Western Bulldogs player Jayden, and his younger brother Kim, have also joined the Hawks for 2021.