Shellharbour's James Bell nominates for AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft

The Shellharbour junior is among a list of more than 300 footballers to nominate for the AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft, which will take place on Wednesday night. It is the only opportunity for clubs to add talent to their list during the 2023 season.

For Bell, the draft provides a glimmer of hopes as he hopes to reignite his AFL career.

The speedy forward, who was a product of the Swans Academy, was picked up by Sydney as a category B rookie in the 2017 AFL draft. He went on to play 28 games for the Swans before being delisted by the club last October.

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Since then, the 24-year-old has been plying his trade for Glenelg in the South Australian Football League.

"I decided to come here because it's the second best competition in the country (after the AFL)," Bell told glenelgc.com.au in December 2022.

"I'm also best friends with Toby Pink and I played with Will Gould in Sydney, so there were a couple of connections to Glenelg."

If drafted on Wednesday night, Bell will be able to link up with his new club immediately. He is among a host of former AFL players hoping to get picked up, alongside the likes of Quinton Narkle, Caleb Poulter and Will Elliott.

Some past success stories from the mid-season draft include Richmond's Marlion Pickett, Collingwood's John Noble and Bulldogs defender Ryan Gardner.

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