South West Football League inundated with more than 200 transfer requests

Silly season is in full swing in the South West Football League with more than 200 transfer requests submitted in the opening two weeks of the player movement period. Veteran Bunbury forwards Joel Houghton and Matt Martin are the headline pair of the 23 players seeking to make internal transfers, with both planning a move to Donnybrook. The duo’s departures would leave a 112-goal hole in the Bulldogs forward line, with former Docker Houghton finishing second in the competition’s goal-kicking charts last year with 61 majors and Martin — the league’s all-time leading goal-kicker — booting 51. The SWFL website yesterday listed Martin’s move as approved but Houghton’s as declined. Last year’s leading goal-kicker Leigh Kohlmann is also on the move, re-joining Swan Districts. The 31-year-old booted 110 goals for South Bunbury last season but will head back to Bassendean to have another run in the WAFL where he has kicked 38 goals in 22 career league games. The league’s website listed 119 players who are seeking to enter the competition, headlined by East Fremantle veteran Ryan Lester-Smith who has joined Harvey Bulls. Last year’s runner-up Carey Park have recruited more than a dozen players after their heartbreaking grand final loss but have lost Sydney Stack back to the WAFL, with the former Richmond star signing a two-year deal with Swan Districts.