AFL New Zealand Premiership side, the Northern Suns have announced that they have retained New Zealand senior players Will Dickinson and Heta Scarf-Matthews for 2019.
The pair were retained under Category 1 of the Retained Players List (RPL). RPL 1 is the Retention of Auckland based players who have played for the New Zealand Senior team over the past 12 months. (Up to 3 players retained).
New Suns Captain Ben Hick, who was announced last week is the third player to fall into the category.
Read more: 2019 AFLNZ Premiership retained players list explained
Will Dickinson
Skilled midfielder Will Dickinson will return to Premiership footy in 2019.
After spending the majority of 2018 on the sidelines through injury, Dickinson is back playing club footy for the Mt Roskill Saints in the Auckland AFL (AAFL).
Named the leagues (AAFL) Best and Fairest winner in December 2016, Will was drafted into the Northern Suns for the 2017 AFL New Zealand Premiership and after stellar debut season, was named as the sides Best and Fairest player.
More accolades followed in April 2017 when playing in his debut match for New Zealand, Will was awarded Best on Ground against the AFL Academy at Westpac Stadium.
His 2017 International Cup performance proves he is one of the top 10 players in the country.
Heta Scarf-Matthews
Formerly based in Nelson and Otago, NZ senior squad member Heta Scarf-Matthews now resides in Auckland and will play a fourth season for the Northern Suns in the 2019 Premiership.
With a background playing Soccer, the Otago representative reads the play extremely well and is tough around the contest.
More experienced than ever, the 2016 AFL New Zealand U18 Player of the year will be called upon to step up his game to another level in 2019.
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