AFL New Zealand Premiership side, the Northern Suns have announced that they have retained regional based players Liam Beattie and Josh Mackie for the 2019 season.
The pair were retained under Category 2 of the Retained Players List (RPL).
RPL 2 is the Retention of regional based players. (Up to 5 players retained).
Read more: 2019 AFLNZ Premiership retained players list explained
Liam Beattie
Liam Beattie will once again be apart of the Northern Suns Premiership team in 2019.
Based in the Waikato, the inaugural Northern Suns Best and Fairest had a consistent last 18 months playing against the AFL Academy in Wellington before being awarded the most consistent player for New Zealand at the 2017 International Cup.
A current member of the University Blues in the Auckland competition, Beattie’s strength over the ball and in tight contests provides his team with first use of the football.
Josh Mackie
Otago based Josh Mackie has gone from strength to strength over the past two years.
His performance in the 2017 AFL New Zealand Premiership didn’t go unnoticed when New Zealand Senior Head Coach Rob Malone included him in the NZ squad for the ANZAC and International Cup campaigns.
Mackie was one of the Suns top players during the 2018 season and went on to Captain the NZ under 18 side in their historic victory during their Melbourne campaign when they defeated a representative side from the Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League in May.
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