Welcome to Norwood Billy Cootee

The Norwood Football Club is delighted to announce the third signing of the off-season, with Billy Cootee committing to the club for 2024.

Cootee comes to Norwood from Essendon’s VFL team, where he captained the side in 2023.

The midfield-forward played every game in 2023 and finished third in Essendon’s Best and Fairest.

Norwood coach Jade Rawlings said the 20-year-old had shown excellent leadership early in his career.

“Billy is a really impressive young man,” Rawlings said.

“He was the captain of Essendon’s VFL team as a 20-year-old, which is a reflection of his character and leadership.

“He was a really consistent performer as a midfield-forward this season.

“We have been talking to Bill for quite a number of weeks about the prospect of moving to Adelaide and playing for us, we are pleased that Billy made the assurance that he would come and play for Norwood, and move to Adelaide because we think he’s going to have a big impact.

“We had him over a few weeks ago to meet some of our players, and to get a feel for Norwood, the club and the area.”

Cootee is the third midfielder that has signed with Norwood over the off-season, with South Adelaide’s Mitch O’Neill and North Launceston’s Ben Simpson also crossing to The Parade for 2024.

“Bolstering our midfield is a layer of how we have recruited with Nunn, Rokahr and Richards not playing for us in 2024,” Rawlings said.

“We will have some internal options with players growing and improving to fill those voids, but part of it was also to bring people in who have got midfield capability.

“We feel as though with what we have got on our list currently, and what we are bringing in, the midfield will be a competitive part of the ground to get a game each week.”