WAFL 2024: East Perth star Angus Schumacher joins Mitch Crowden in moving to SANFL, signs with North Adelaide

East Perth have lost another star midfielder, with Angus Schumacher following Mitch Crowden out the door to the SANFL just weeks after their grand final loss. The West Australian can reveal Schumacher has decided to sign with North Adelaide this week after five seasons at the Royals. Schumacher, 25, leaves the Royals after 69 games, having signed with the club ahead of the 2020 season. He played one game in two seasons at Carlton after being drafted with pick No.70 in the 2017 National Draft. The loss of Schumacher is a big blow to the Royals, who made the grand final this year for the first time since the end of the alignment with West Coast in 2018. Schumacher averaged 25 disposals during his time at the Royals and claimed the 2023 Simpson Medal as Western Australia’s best player in their State game loss to South Australia. Crowden, who won the club’s best-and-fairest this year and finished second in the Sandover Medal count, has already left the club to return to Sturt after seven years in the west at Fremantle and East Perth. Schumacher was a one-point player for the Royals. They have gone from 95 available points to only 90 after making the grand final, which will make it hard for them to replace the midfielders. Meanwhile, fellow midfielder Michael Randall is being pursued by several clubs including Perth. Randall, 24, played 29 games for East Perth in three seasons after being forced to sit out the 2022 season with a 20-month ban for testing positive for the prohibited stimulant phentermine while playing for Peel against West Perth in 2021. He played 30 games for the Thunder in three seasons and trained at Fremantle in the 2021 pre-season while he was considered an AFL prospect. The loss of Randall as well would leave the Royals short of most of their star-studded midfield, with Sandover medallist Hamish Brayshaw left after re-signing until the end of next season. East Fremantle are set to sign defender Jack Avery after 44 games in four seasons at Perth. Avery, 22, was at Claremont where he played 14 games in the colts before moving to the Demons where he established himself as a solid defender, with a foot injury restricting him to eight games.