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Western Bulldogs: 2016 Premiers -
Re: 2013 draft watch
Couple on Kade and Dayle
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Matured Garlett says he's ready for a second chance
By Mark Macgugan 5:41pm AEST Wednesday, October 2, 2013
TALENTED West Australian teenager Dayle Garlett says he has turned his attitude around, and is ready for a shot at AFL football.
The 19-year-old small forward was overlooked in last year's NAB AFL Draft despite being considered one of the top prospects on ability alone, with clubs concerned about his off-field approach.
Fearing his hopes of an AFL career were dashed, he considered giving football away altogether, before making the decision to return to Swan Districts in the WAFL.
What followed was an outstanding 2013 season, in which the left-footer booted 48 goals and averaged 16 disposals a game, polling a club-high 24 Sandover Medal votes.
Just as importantly, he says he found stability in his preparation, improved his approach to diet and nutrition, studied to become a personal trainer, and even parted ways with friends he felt were having a negative influence.
"It was definitely tough [being overlooked at the draft]," Garlett told AFL.com.au on Wednesday at Etihad Stadium, where he is one of more than 100 hopefuls participating in the NAB AFL Draft Combine.
"I didn't do a pre-season for Swan Districts because I wanted to have some time off.
"The first thing that came into my mind was that I didn't have a second chance, so I had to think about what I wanted to do with my life.
"But once I found out that I did have a second chance, I went back to footy, and ever since then I haven't missed a beat.
"From there on I've just wanted to play AFL footy."
When he turned up at Swan Districts on the eve of the season, Garlett said his skinfold measurements had slipped out to 68cm.
Through hard work, he has improved that figure to a far more palatable 53cm, and believes he is equipped to handle the rigours of an AFL environment.
Having received positive feedback from clubs about his turnaround, he said the ideal scenario would see him drafted to Victoria.
However, he would be just as happy if offered a chance by one of the two clubs in his home state.
"I reckon I'm ready to play AFL football," Garlett said.
"I would love to go somewhere in Victoria, just so I can be a nobody and focus on my football.
"One of the main things if I get drafted at home is I could have setbacks, like mates trying to bring me down.
"[However] this year I've given some of those mates up to focus on my football.
"So I reckon if I get drafted back at home, it wouldn't bother me – I'd be able to do the same thing and just focus on my footy career back at home."
Garlett said parting ways with those mates was difficult, but something that had to be done.
"I gave them up for my future and my career, and just surrounded myself with good people who I know want the best for me," he said.
"It was definitely tough telling them that I can't hang out with them anymore ... but I've just moved on from it, and I feel more comfortable now than I was before."
Garlett credited his family – his mother and step-father – with helping him get back on track, along with his coaches and teammates at Swan Districts.
He is now fully focussed on testing well at the combine, as he seeks to continue building the trust of recruiters.
"They (the recruiters) said I didn't look like I really wanted it last year," he said.
"But coming into this year, they've said they can see a change in me, and that I've proved a fair bit that I want to play AFL footy this year.
"But that's not it – I obviously have to keep proving it, which I'm going to do.
"I definitely feel like I'm more eager to grab an AFL career.
"I definitely love my footy more now.
"I've thought about it, and footy is my No.1 thing, besides my family."
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Kade Kolodjashnij jumps up draft order
By Callum Twomey 4:37pm AEST Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Complemented by his athletic ability, I think it pushes him right up amongst the best kids in the country
AFL academies development manager Michael Ablett, on Kade Kolodjashnij
TASMANIAN prospect Kade Kolodjashnij is the early star of the NAB AFL Draft Combine, showing his talents in the jump testing.
The half-back flanker and wingman, who played a starring role for Tasmania through the NAB AFL under-18 Championships, led the way in Monday's standing vertical jump test.
Kolodjashnij, who is projected to be a top-10 selection next month, had a 79cm vertical relative jump.
He beat fellow Tasmanian Brady Grey (76cm), Queenslander Fraser Thurlow (75cm), and West Australian Tom Vandeleur (72cm).
Kolodjashnij was also the standout in the running vertical jump off the right leg, jumping 97cm.
The AFL's academies development manager Michael Ablett said it demonstrated Kolodjashnij's surge up the draft order.
"He's just gone from strength to strength," Ablett told AFL.com.au.
"We've seen his footy continually improve throughout the year. We saw what he did earlier in the year, particularly at the AIS-AFL Academy's January camp and could see what an exciting athlete he was.
"But to actually get confirmed figures and that solid data on him now, it just backs up his football ability. Complemented by his athletic ability, I think it pushes him right up amongst the best kids in the country."
Queenslander Archie Smith, who had the best running vertical jump on the left leg, matched Kolodjashnij's leap of 97cm.
Smith is a recent convert to the AFL, having previously played basketball. His father, Andre Moore, was a former NBL star with the Brisbane Bullets.
The 200cm prospect is a member of the Brisbane Lions Academy, which means the club has bidding rights over him when the clubs meet next week.
Like the rules for the father-son bidding system, if no club bids for Smith the Lions can automatically list him with their last draft pick. If another club does place a bid for the 18-year-old, the Lions can choose to match it.
"There's no doubt he's a first-choice athlete. Brisbane are obviously very excited about having him and he's one who's showed solid improvement throughout the year," Ablett saidComment
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Re: 2013 draft watch
Both speed we could do with, although can't see them getting up to pick 4.Rocket Science: the epitaph for the Beveridge era - whenever it ends - reading 'Here lies a team that could beat anyone on its day, but seldom did when it mattered most'. 15/7/2023Comment
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Re: 2013 draft watch
Ben Lennon learnt valuable lesson from Hawks' coach
Callum Twomey October 3, 2013 2:18 PM
Alastair Clarkson spoke to us and said if you can't kick, you can't play
Ben Lennon
BEN LENNON has always been a really good kick, capable of pinpointing a pass over any distance on his right side.
But earlier this year he began to understand how and why one of his biggest strengths can be even more important as he progresses towards this year's NAB AFL Draft.
As a member of the AIS-AFL Academy, Lennon was privy to a briefing from Hawthorn premiership coach Alastair Clarkson during a training day at Waverley Park in January. One thing, in particular, stuck in his head.
"When we went to Hawthorn with the AIS, Alastair Clarkson spoke to us and said if you can't kick, you can't play," Lennon said on Monday, after scoring well in the kicking test.
"That's when the penny really dropped, and one of my major efforts was to concentrate on my kicking and I've done that I think.
"[Before hearing from Clarkson, my kicking] was good, but it wasn't elite or anything."
During the skills screening at the NAB AFL Draft Combine, Lennon booted four goals out of five shots in the goalkicking test, scored 26 points out of a possible 30 in the kicking test, and 24 from 30 in the handball test.
He ranks as one of the best kicks of this year's crop, which complements his athleticism and strong marking.
The half-forward, who showed at the end of the year his ability to move into the midfield, has met several clubs this week with most seeing him as a likely top-10 draft selection.
Another player in the frame for that draft range is West Australian midfielder Dom Sheed, who has not played since breaking his collarbone in June.
Sheed has been linked with West Coast's pick six, and admits the thought of going to the club he supports would be a thrill.
But he isn't getting carried away with that prospect.
"I've grown up going for the Eagles, so obviously it'd be great to be able to get on the Eagles' list, but I'm not going to hold my breath," Sheed said.Comment
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Re: 2013 draft watch
As expected North going with their gun gun son of a gun McDonald. God I hope we or someone makes them use their first pick, he's a good un.Rocket Science: the epitaph for the Beveridge era - whenever it ends - reading 'Here lies a team that could beat anyone on its day, but seldom did when it mattered most'. 15/7/2023Comment
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Re: 2013 draft watch
The Age today:
OCTOBER 05, 2013 - 3:00 AM ARTICLE 8 OF 35
Learning to leave the party
Looking ahead: Dayle Garlett considered giving football away, only to return to Swan Districts before this season. Photo: Ken Irwin
EMMA QUAYLE
Dayle Garlett wasn't sure what to do. But he knew exactly how he felt, when he realised at the end of last year that not one AFL club wanted him. He felt ashamed, as though he had let people down. He was embarrassed, because everyone knew why he hadn't been picked up. He felt stupid, too, for having assumed it would happen.
''I wasn't one of those boys who were saying they would definitely be drafted. I was more hoping. But inside, I didn't think I would miss out,'' he said. ''I've remembered that this year as well. I hope I get drafted this year, but you can't just hope. You have to tell the clubs and show them why they should be picking you up.''
That wasn't on his mind this time last year. To Garlett, the 2012 draft combine feels like it happened just a few months ago. He can still remember how confident he felt, how well he had been playing, how certain he was that someone would want him. Then the clubs started asking him about his eating habits, how much he drank, why he went out so often, why he had missed recovery sessions, and by the time he got home to Perth he knew he was being judged on much more than his left-foot kick and 20-metre sprint time.
He didn't get invited to this year's combine until a few weeks ago, but he hadn't been sweating on it and he arrived knowing it was up to him to prove himself. ''You can say whatever you want to say to the clubs, but you have to show it as well,'' he said. ''Coming here, you want to say things to them and tell them you've changed, but you also have to back it up and shown them why it's different.''
Garlett had no idea what he would do next, when he was overlooked in the national draft last November. His head started spinning - was he meant to get a job? Start some sort of course? Work in the mines?
''I had no back-up plans,'' he said, ''because I hadn't even thought about it.''
He didn't need to figure anything out for a few more weeks, either, because Essendon asked him over to train almost immediately. Then the Bombers decided not to pick him - a decision to go out partying the night he flew home to Perth not helping convince the club he was ready to settle down - and he felt even more overwhelmed. For five or six weeks he quit football entirely, and when his family, teammates and coaches at Swan Districts talked him into coming back to the club it wasn't about trying to get to an AFL team again.
''In my head, the first thing I thought was, no one gets second chances,'' he said. ''I was thinking I had to focus on my life and get a job and look after myself. I needed some time to chill a bit, and relax, and work out what I wanted to do. Everyone was pressuring me and telling me I had to play, but I had to put that to the side and think about myself. When I went back, it was because I loved the club and because I loved playing football in general. I didn't think I would get another chance for the AFL, I just wanted to play because I loved it.''
Garlett was a late starter for pre-season, overweight and unfit, but enthusiastic again. He lost weight and dropped his skinfolds, listening to the people telling him what and when to eat. He did some extra training sessions and turned up early all season. He spent most of the year playing on the forward line, where he found out that he still needed to improve his endurance and work on his pressure skills, but showed everyone watching that his skills were ready to be tested at a new level.
''His football was exceptional for us,'' said Phil Smart, the Swan Districts football manager. ''We played him mostly as a high forward and I think he'll probably develop into a midfielder, but his skills are immaculate. That hasn't changed, and he's improved. I think he's a better player now than he was last year.''
The question then was whether he would do the right things off the ground. And that question is still there. If Garlett was to be drafted, said one recruiter, it would be in this draft: it's not a particularly strong one, and it's an even group, with not a huge number of eye-catching players. It takes only one club for someone to get picked, pointed out another. But many recruiters either have the exact same doubts they had this time last year, or think not enough has changed. A handful of clubs have travelled to Perth to visit Garlett at home and while that has encouraged him, he knows from experience such visits can rule players out as much as they can rule them in.
''I'm not getting my hopes up,'' he said. ''I'm not too stressed out about it. I've tried not to think about the draft this year, it's been more about my football and trying to get my body right and playing well and helping my family out. If I get drafted, then I'll only focus on my football, but I wanted to play because I liked it, not take it too seriously and get my hopes up in case I do get let down again. I still really want it, but I just tried to focus on other things so that if it happens, it just happens.''
What he can say is that he still likes to go out, but not as much as he used to. ''You have to pick the right times and that's not every weekend or even every second weekend.''
He has a girlfriend, Emma, who has helped him settle down. He's been studying a personal training course and since returning at the end of the pre-season hasn't missed a training run or a recovery session. He's broken away from some of his friends, tried to make better choices about who he hangs around with. He's not drinking or smoking, he's tried to be honest whenever the clubs have asked questions of him, and he hopes this is enough.
''Coming from last year into this year there's a big difference. I've definitely learnt to say no to some of my mates and to make my own choices. Giving them up was pretty hard, very hard actually, but I just asked myself how much I really wanted to play footy and make a name for myself and I moved on from there. I was disappointed in myself last year with the mistakes I made and I didn't want to build my hopes up, but I also didn't want to face the fear again of not being drafted,'' he said.
''My girlfriend's been a great influence, helping me cut back with how much I go out and finding no time for it any more. Now it's just footy training, playing games and going home to rest up with her, so she's been a big part of my life and that's what I've tried to get across.
''Everything the recruiters ask me, if it's true then I'll confront it and talk to them about it, but I've been more confident with them this year, more relaxed and more calm and all the meetings I've had have been good meetings.
''I don't know what's going to happen but I definitely think I could play for an AFL team if I got the chance. Even getting this far again and getting this much of a second chance has been the best thing that's happened to me. I just want to grab it with two hands now.''Rocket Science: the epitaph for the Beveridge era - whenever it ends - reading 'Here lies a team that could beat anyone on its day, but seldom did when it mattered most'. 15/7/2023Comment
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Re: 2013 draft watch
Great article, thanks BT.Have you heard Butters wants to come to the Dogs?Comment
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Re: 2013 draft watch
Good article. He remains an interesting focus of the draft.
I hope we do our due diligence again. These are the types of opportunities that a club like ours should investigate very seriously if we want to compete with GWS/GC in a few years time.
Hopefully for his sake he has turned himself around.W00F!Comment
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Re: 2013 draft watch
Excellent news - North have avoided a free ride for McDonald by being forced by WC to use their first pick in the draft.
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LUKE McDonald is officially a North Melbourne player after the Roos today parted with their prized No.8 draft pick.
The father-son sensation was nominated by the Roos on Friday and they were forced to use their first-round selection to match a bid from West Coast, which put forward its No.6 pick.
McDonald is ranked by most clubs as about the sixth best talent in this year’s draft, justifying the high price North must pay to secure the son of outgoing football manager Donald McDonald.Comment
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Re: 2013 draft watch
WILL DAYLE GARLETT GET A CHANCE?
It's hard to say right now. He only needs one club to call his name to get a chance, after being very publicly overlooked last year, but many remain dubious. That's largely to do with his perceived lack of discipline off the field, but it's important to note that he is very much a work in progress as a footballer, too.
Garlett has exceptional skill and creativity, and has shown both at senior level in WA. But he doesn't yet have the endurance to play in the midfield and, as a forward, doesn't show a natural inclination to chase, tackle and harass.
Combine that with the off-field stuff, and and he's no certainty at all to get a go this year. He wants a shot, he's played well, he has some fierce defenders at Swan Districts and he has made some important changes to his life this year, settling down somewhat, losing weight, becoming fitter and limiting the partying.
In his favour is the fact that there aren't all that many dynamic players in this year's group, but it was disappointing to hear that he didn't show for one of his club interviews this week.
His best chance might be with one of the few clubs taking more than three or four picks, or as a rookie, in which case clubs would have to give him only a one-year contract and he'd arrive knowing that if he mucks up once, he'll be gone.
Hmmmm.Comment
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Re: 2013 draft watch
I'm sure he was just unlucky, or there was some circumstances outside his control, or it wasn't his fault.
He's only 20 you can't expect him to turn up to prospective job interviews, hes' young!
[COLOR="#FF0000"][B]Western Bulldogs:[/B][/COLOR] [COLOR="#0000CD"][B]We exist to win premierships[/B][/COLOR]Comment
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Re: 2013 draft watch
Wasn't he also a no show when Port came to town a while back ?
What can you sayComment
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