Schumacher's Weekend With The Eagles

A return to the AFL has been something in the back of Angus Schumacher’s mind since he joined the Royals in 2020, however, he never could have imagined his opportunity would come the way it did.

Angus has played some terrific football for the Royals during two injury and COVID cruelled seasons, with the 23-year-old showing enough talent to be regularly tagged by opponents as one of East Perth’s main ball movers. Despite this attention, he caught the eye of the Eagles recruiting department and was added to the West Coast ‘Top Up’ list alongside skipper Jackson Ramsay and Damon Greaves.

‘It was a bit of a whirlwind really’ Angus said of his experience as a travelling emergency for the West Coast vs Kangaroo’s match on Sunday.

‘I was called into the Club (West Coast) on Friday, did a PCR test, then was on the plane Saturday morning.’

‘It was awesome to be back a part of an AFL setup, but was quickly back to work at East Perth on Monday’

For Angus, who lived in Melbourne before moving to Perth, it was an unexpected homecoming, however it was a bit of a different trip than usual.

‘Understandably, we were in a bubble of sorts. We were allowed to pop out for a takeaway coffee but had to return to hotel straight away. It was fun spending time and getting to know a new group of guys, especially the ones I haven’t met yet in my time in Perth.’

Coincidently Angus’ one AFL appearance was for Carlton against West Coast at Marvel Stadium in 2019. ‘West Coast are a big Club, something I only appreciate now living in Perth. It was great to be involved, but now I’m back to focusing on playing good footy at East Perth.’

Players can be called to train with an AFL Club from their nominated ‘Top Up’ list of 20 players when they have less than 30 fit players and can play a match if the number of players available is less than 28. Once ‘Activated’ the player can remain with the AFL Club for up to ten days before returning to their WAFL Club