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Late bloomers from around the country could be overlooked in the 2020 AFL draft
Some were dreaming of the Olympics while others were playing cricket. And then there were the ones who just weren’t good enough yet. What impact will COVID-19 have on the draft? These are the stars who never would have been picked up.
Andy McGrath started his draft year dreaming about running in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The Canadian-born school captain was better known as the national 400m hurdles champion rather than bursting out of the Brighton Grammar backline.
Pace bowler Jordan Clark’s five-wicket haul against Pakistan in Dubai the year before he was selected by Geelong included a hat-trick.
Jack Macrae and Toby Greene simply weren’t good enough to play for Oakleigh Chargers as 17-year-olds.
Dandenong Stingrays believed Toby McLean’s fitness was so far off the pace they cut him from their TAC Cup squad after a 3km time trial.
Vic Country didn’t consider a chubby Clayton Oliver halfway through his draft year, and Oliver’s skinfolds only came down when a rigorous post-season diet and running program saw him shed 4kg.
But Essendon crowned McGrath the No.1 pick in 2016, the Cats used No.15 on Clark in 2018 and, after breaking into the Chargers’ line-up as 18-year-olds, Macrae went at No.6 (2012) and Greene at No.11 (2011).
As for McLean, he won a second chance at Oakleigh and was then drafted at No.26 – before any Stingrays player – while Oliver went to Melbourne with the third live pick in the 2015 draft.
These are just some of the recent players who used their Under-18 season to rocket on to AFL radars after they were largely unheard of.
In 2020 the Victorian late bloomers are unlikely to be given that opportunity.
Games are back in South Australia and Western Australia but footy’s heartland – which produces about 50 per cent of the draft – is in lockdown.
The VFL was cancelled on Wednesday and the NAB League and school football is expected to follow.
Fortunately for the Macraes, Jack’s younger brother Finlay showed enough as a bottom-ager to be a top 10 or 20 pick this year.
But what about the bolters? There are usually two or three in the top 30.
Will recruiters be able to find them this year?
“You’re going to need creativity, good processes and the courage to back yourself,” one expert said.
Adelaide is likely to have five picks in the top-30, and that would leave the Crows well-positioned to swing the bat at speculative prospects with enormous upside.
Get it right and they might just explode next year.
Glenelg’s Kaine Baldwin is one prospect in that uncertain range.
The 194cm key forward looked a top-five talent at 16, but knee reconstructions since have left Baldwin, like the Victorians, underexposed.
This year’s Under-16 carnival has already been cancelled. Those kids have lost the first milestone that makes their AFL dream seem tangible.
The AFL has lost the chance to identify the hottest prospects to make sure they get the “coaching and cuddling” required to keep going, instead of focussing on other sports.
And clubs have lost their look at the futures market, which helps list managers decide whether to trade in or out of future drafts.
Decisions on this year’s locals will largely boil down to practice match form and stats, online interviews and NAB League club recommendations.
“You can’t find them unless they play,” a veteran recruiter said.
“It’s difficult to go with them (draft them) when you haven’t seen them play live.
“The vision is OK but I like to see them live. You see what they do off the ball a lot better, that’s important.”
Next, recruiters want to know what is happening with list sizes.
Gold Coast already has 41 players signed for 2021 so will they be frozen in 2021 or slashed?
If they come down, will clubs only have to use two compulsory draft picks instead of three?
A list cut to 35 – and cull of AFL development coaches – would intensify the pressure on coaches such as Gary Ayres (Port Melbourne) and Andy Collins (Williamstown) to produce AFL prospects.
The likes of Tom Stewart (Geelong VFL), Tim Kelly (South Fremantle), Luke Ryan (Coburg), Dane Rampe, Kane Lambert (Williamstown), Dayne Zorko (Broadbeach), Brody Mihocek (Port Melbourne) Liam Ryan (Subiaco) and Willie Rioli (Glenelg) all proved they could make it without the finishing school that AFL clubs have become.
Bulldogs legend Dale Morris spent five years getting rejected but had the mental strength to keep persisting.
But how many prospects would lack that level of dedication, instead tempted to earn easy cash playing local footy while, as Dan Andrews would say, getting on the beers?
Or perhaps take up another sport? Or pursue a college scholarship in the US, as a reverse Mason Cox?
These are just some of the unanswered questions swirling around in a year that is set to change the landscape forever.
THE DRAFT’S BEST LATE BLOOMERS
Star players who weren’t high on the radar at the end of their bottom-age season
B: Nick Haynes, Harris Andrews, Zak Jones
HB: Andy McGrath, Tom Barrass, Jordan Clark
C: Zach Merrett, Clayton Oliver, Jack Macrae
HF: Toby Greene, Eric Hipwood, Daniel Rioli
F: Jack Gunston, Todd Marshall, Jordan De Goey
R: Tim English, Marcus Bontempelli, Tim Taranto
I/C (from): Hugh McCluggage, Toby McLean, Alex Pearce, Oliver Florent, Wayne Milera, Will Hayward, Charlie Ballard, Ed Richards, Sam Sturt
Some were dreaming of the Olympics while others were playing cricket. And then there were the ones who just weren’t good enough yet. What impact will COVID-19 have on the draft? These are the stars who never would have been picked up.
Andy McGrath started his draft year dreaming about running in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The Canadian-born school captain was better known as the national 400m hurdles champion rather than bursting out of the Brighton Grammar backline.
Pace bowler Jordan Clark’s five-wicket haul against Pakistan in Dubai the year before he was selected by Geelong included a hat-trick.
Jack Macrae and Toby Greene simply weren’t good enough to play for Oakleigh Chargers as 17-year-olds.
Dandenong Stingrays believed Toby McLean’s fitness was so far off the pace they cut him from their TAC Cup squad after a 3km time trial.
Vic Country didn’t consider a chubby Clayton Oliver halfway through his draft year, and Oliver’s skinfolds only came down when a rigorous post-season diet and running program saw him shed 4kg.
But Essendon crowned McGrath the No.1 pick in 2016, the Cats used No.15 on Clark in 2018 and, after breaking into the Chargers’ line-up as 18-year-olds, Macrae went at No.6 (2012) and Greene at No.11 (2011).
As for McLean, he won a second chance at Oakleigh and was then drafted at No.26 – before any Stingrays player – while Oliver went to Melbourne with the third live pick in the 2015 draft.
These are just some of the recent players who used their Under-18 season to rocket on to AFL radars after they were largely unheard of.
In 2020 the Victorian late bloomers are unlikely to be given that opportunity.
Games are back in South Australia and Western Australia but footy’s heartland – which produces about 50 per cent of the draft – is in lockdown.
The VFL was cancelled on Wednesday and the NAB League and school football is expected to follow.
Fortunately for the Macraes, Jack’s younger brother Finlay showed enough as a bottom-ager to be a top 10 or 20 pick this year.
But what about the bolters? There are usually two or three in the top 30.
Will recruiters be able to find them this year?
“You’re going to need creativity, good processes and the courage to back yourself,” one expert said.
Adelaide is likely to have five picks in the top-30, and that would leave the Crows well-positioned to swing the bat at speculative prospects with enormous upside.
Get it right and they might just explode next year.
Glenelg’s Kaine Baldwin is one prospect in that uncertain range.
The 194cm key forward looked a top-five talent at 16, but knee reconstructions since have left Baldwin, like the Victorians, underexposed.
This year’s Under-16 carnival has already been cancelled. Those kids have lost the first milestone that makes their AFL dream seem tangible.
The AFL has lost the chance to identify the hottest prospects to make sure they get the “coaching and cuddling” required to keep going, instead of focussing on other sports.
And clubs have lost their look at the futures market, which helps list managers decide whether to trade in or out of future drafts.
Decisions on this year’s locals will largely boil down to practice match form and stats, online interviews and NAB League club recommendations.
“You can’t find them unless they play,” a veteran recruiter said.
“It’s difficult to go with them (draft them) when you haven’t seen them play live.
“The vision is OK but I like to see them live. You see what they do off the ball a lot better, that’s important.”
Next, recruiters want to know what is happening with list sizes.
Gold Coast already has 41 players signed for 2021 so will they be frozen in 2021 or slashed?
If they come down, will clubs only have to use two compulsory draft picks instead of three?
A list cut to 35 – and cull of AFL development coaches – would intensify the pressure on coaches such as Gary Ayres (Port Melbourne) and Andy Collins (Williamstown) to produce AFL prospects.
The likes of Tom Stewart (Geelong VFL), Tim Kelly (South Fremantle), Luke Ryan (Coburg), Dane Rampe, Kane Lambert (Williamstown), Dayne Zorko (Broadbeach), Brody Mihocek (Port Melbourne) Liam Ryan (Subiaco) and Willie Rioli (Glenelg) all proved they could make it without the finishing school that AFL clubs have become.
Bulldogs legend Dale Morris spent five years getting rejected but had the mental strength to keep persisting.
But how many prospects would lack that level of dedication, instead tempted to earn easy cash playing local footy while, as Dan Andrews would say, getting on the beers?
Or perhaps take up another sport? Or pursue a college scholarship in the US, as a reverse Mason Cox?
These are just some of the unanswered questions swirling around in a year that is set to change the landscape forever.
THE DRAFT’S BEST LATE BLOOMERS
Star players who weren’t high on the radar at the end of their bottom-age season
B: Nick Haynes, Harris Andrews, Zak Jones
HB: Andy McGrath, Tom Barrass, Jordan Clark
C: Zach Merrett, Clayton Oliver, Jack Macrae
HF: Toby Greene, Eric Hipwood, Daniel Rioli
F: Jack Gunston, Todd Marshall, Jordan De Goey
R: Tim English, Marcus Bontempelli, Tim Taranto
I/C (from): Hugh McCluggage, Toby McLean, Alex Pearce, Oliver Florent, Wayne Milera, Will Hayward, Charlie Ballard, Ed Richards, Sam Sturt
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