Draft May Prove Best Yet For Tall And Versatile Youngsters

The Age

Thursday July 10, 2008

Emma Quayle

AS VIC Metro beat Western Australia in the final of this year's under-18 competition, the theme of the upcoming draft pool took further shape: expect the top part of the draft to be largely about tall players who can play in a long list of spots.

With No. 1 prospect Nick Naitanui up front, Adelaide recruiting manager Matt Rendell expects this draft to prove the best ever for talls, while Collingwood's Derek Hine said their versatility was what made the group unique.

Metro ruckman Tyrone Vickery, back from a knee reconstruction, was almost best on ground for Metro in its 29-point win, taking several strong marks deep in the forward line, while the skinner Shaun McKernan also roamed the ground well and got into goal-scoring spots as a forward.

The injured Ayce Cordy, another ruck prospect, would be a top five or 10 pick if the Western Bulldogs didn't have first call on him as a father-son selection, while ruckman/defender Jackson Trengove also shaped as a top 10 prospect before suffering a season-ending knee/hamstring injury that clubs will need to get a line on.

Jordan Roughead, the cousin of Hawthorn forward Jarryd, was a smooth mover for Vic Country in its big win over Tasmania in the middle game, while the South Australian side that thrashed NSW featured a couple of developing ruck prospects who may push through later in the draft, with Jarred Redden in particular playing well.

Jack Watts leads the key position prospects likely to be snapped up swiftly, with Metro full-back Michael Hurley still ranked highly by some clubs and South Australian forward Lewis Johnston continuing to push his first-round claims after barely dropping a mark, contested or otherwise, yesterday. Tasmanian Aaron Cornelius may also come into first-round calculations.

Naitanui's WA teammate Dan Rich is at the top of the midfield list, with the hard-at-it Jack Ziebell impressive again for Vic Country yesterday and his teammate Steele Sidebottom playing another composed game. Hamish Hartlett was classy again for South Australia, while Sam Blease took off on some eye-catching runs for Metro.

Rendell expected any club looking for a tall player to have a shot at a good one in the first round.

"It's the best tall draft we've seen and probably ever will see. There's probably four of the best ruckmen I've seen going around and in any other year they'd be going number one," he said.

"Those guys speak for themselves: Naitanui, Vickery and McKernan, and we've forgotten about Cordy because he hasn't played all year. You throw in Roughead and a couple of the South Australians who are coming from a fair way back, plus Trengove, and you've got six or seven good players.

"And it's not only that, there's a fantastic group of key position players as well. I just think when all is said and done it's the best draft ever for all players and to have the standard we've got in the one year is amazing."

Hine, who believes Watts also has midfield potential, said the adaptability of the group also made it a special one. "You look at someone like Tyrone Vickery, he's one of those talls who's a multi-position player," he said.

Metro's win was its sixth in eight seasons, and gave coach David Dickson, who has resigned after 12 years shepherding dozens of AFL players through their under-18 carnival, a perfect farewell.

Vic Country beat Tasmania by 98 points, with John Butcher scoring five goals, while South Australian Luke Tapscott kicked four in his side's 80-point win over NSW/ACT.

Hurley (Vic Metro), Rhys O'Keeffe (South Australia), Clancee Pearce (WA), Andrew Hooper (Vic Country), Mitch Robinson (Tas) and Kade Klemke (NSW/ACT) were voted their teams' most valuable players for the series.

NO.1 PRIORITY

The three contending to be No. 1 pick in this year's draft

JACK WATTS won the Larke Medal as the best player in division one. Got caught a couple of times holding on to the ball a little long, but also showed off his clean, one-grab hands, ability in a pack and coolness under pressure, slotting a couple of goals.

NICK NAITANUI his opponents sneaked forward and kicked goals on him a few times, and Naitanui didn't win heaps of the ball, but he monstered his opponents in the ruck.

DANIEL RICH had a good game, and his most prolific for the carnival. He played on Mitchell Banner, who was excellent for Vic Metro, but forced the ball out of stoppages, ran hard and pinpointed teammates with some long, strong passes.

© 2008 The Age

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