ANOTHER YEAR OF DRAFTING DANGEROUSLY – PART FOUR

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Demonland presents the fourth in the series on the forthcoming drafts by "Stevo" as told to Whispering Jack ...

ANOTHER YEAR OF DRAFTING DANGEROUSLY – PART FOUR by Stevo

THE BEST OF THE BEST

The best of the best at the AFL's national draft usually come from an elite football background. The system recognises the ability of these players very early so they get nurtured through national championships at Under 16 level, are refined further at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and reach prominence representing their states at the National Under 18 Championships. The best of the best then make the All-Australian team (usually announced after the championships) while the overall best and fairest in the first division of that competition wins the Larke Medal.

Last year, the Melbourne Football Club selected three All-Australians at the national draft: Cale Morton (the Larke Medallist), Jack Grimes and Addam Maric. Tom McNamara, the youngest player overall in the 2007 draft, is also an AIS graduate. If, as predicted, the Demons select this year's Larke Medallist Jack Watts with their first pick, they will have a unique double in Morton and Watts - two best and fairest winners at the elite level of the sport.

It's worthwhile looking at the 2008 All-Australians:

ALL-AUSTRALIAN UNDER 18 TEAM 2008

Backs Nick Suban (179cm 82kg) * Michael Hurley (192cm 92kg) * Clancee Pearce (183cm 85kg)

Half Backs Stephen Hill (182cm 72kg) Jordan Lisle (196cm 87kg) Rhyse O’Keefe (187cm 80kg)

Centre Mitch Robinson (188cm 77kg) Matthew Deboer (187cm 85kg) David Zaharakis (180cm 73kg)

Half forwards Hamish Hartlett (182cm 74kg) # Lewis Johnston (192cm 87kg) * Tom Scully (182cm 74kg) *

Forwards Tyrone Vickery (200cm 86kg) # Jack Watts (194cm 85kg) * Michael Walters (177cm 75kg) *

Followers Nick Naitanui (197cm 95kg) # Jack Ziebell (188cm 84 kg) * Ranga Ediriwickrama (178cm 79 kg)

Interchange Daniel Rich (183cm 83kg) # Shaun McKernan (196cm 95kg) Steele Sidebottom (182cm 79kg) * Kade Klemke (180cm 78kg)

* AA 2008

# AA 2007

[Hurley, Rich and Suban also made All-Australian in 2007]

The elite players in this team will all come into contention at Saturday's draft meeting with the exception of Scully (ineligible due to age) and Ediriwickrama (already selected as a rookie by Geelong through the AFL's NSW scholarship scheme).

The big three of Watts, Naitanui and Rich have already been covered in this series as have my "wild cards" Hill, Sidebottom and Yarran and a couple of others in Phil Davis, Tom Swift and Jackson Trengove who were injured during the championship and who, like Bulldog father/son pick Ayce Cordy, missed their chances of AA selection.

I have pencilled in this next group (in alphabetic order) as my near certainties for first round selection with most, if not all, to be taken in the top ten (pen pictures are from the November edition of Inside Football):

Hamish Hartlett is a highly regarded midfielder noted for his skills and ball handling who has already played senior football in SA and has good pace and awareness.

HAMISH HARTLETT - midfielder. West Adelaide, SA

DOB: 14/8/90 Ht: 182cm Wt: 74kg

"Hamish is the younger brother of Adam at Carlton and he's an onball-cum-forward player who is fantastically skilled, with either foot Just a very classy player who started the year in the under 19s then ended up playing some senior footy towards the end of the year after having also played five or six games at the end of 2007. Had a shoulder operation late in the season and didn't do any of the testing at the draft camp. He's well sought after and just a quality footballer. That's the only way to describe him." - West Adelaide development manager Simon Hughes. SA rep 2008. All Australian 2008. From Edwardstown FC.

Michael Hurley has been the outstanding key defender of the last two championships and has also been used up forward where he has kicked goals. Not overburdened with pace but makes up for it with football smarts, competitiveness and a good, long kick of the football. More a footballer than an athlete but will make an excellent acquisition for one of the clubs in the top half dozen at this year's draft.

MICHAEL HURLEY - tall defender, Northern Knights, Vic.

DOB: 1/6/90 Ht: 192cm Wt: 92kg

"From where we sit, Michael is one of the best defenders, if not the best, in the TAC Cup. He's just a strongly built young man who is hard at the footy and boasts outstanding foot skills - can kick it 50-60 metres with accuracy on both sides. Very good player body-on-body and has the capacity to play either end. There were games where he went forward and kicked five and six goals. Came second in the best and fairest but could have won it, if not for state footy.'' - Northern Knights coach Paul Satterley Vic Metro rep 2008. AH Australian 2007,2008. From Macleod FC.

Lewis Johnston is a tall, mobile, highly skilled and excelled in key forward posts with SA in the championships who has the athleticism to play in the midfield.

LEWIS JOHNSTON - tall forward. North Adelaide, SA.

DOB: 3/3/91 Ht: 192cm Wt: 87kg

"Lewis played mainly under-17s for us as well as a few reserves games in the middle of the year after the under-18 championships. Had to travel long distances to train so he got very tired as the year . wore on. A very athletic player who plays mainly at. centre half forward. Ran 3.04 for a 20-metre sprint to underline his mobility and he's also got a good set of hands." - North Adelaide development manager Neil Sanders. SA rep 2008. All Australian 2008. AIS-AFL Academy graduate. From Port Bulldogs FC.

Shaun McKernan is another athletic tall with a strong leap. I think he will probably be better suited up forward rather than in the ruck at AFL level although he could easily fulfil a role as a pinch hitter in that area as well.

SHAUN McKERNAN - ruckman, Calder Cannons, Vic.

DOB: 1/9/90 Ht: 196cm Wt: 95kg

"Shaun is the younger brother of Corey and is a very similar player in a lot of ways. He's got massive hands, he's a prodigious kick, quick off the mark and he's one of those players who can grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Played a lot of good footy for us at centre halfback after the national carnival where he controlled the back line and rebounded well. Played in the ruck for Vic Metro and earned All-Australian honours, so he can play in a variety of spots. A very draftable player with all the attributes to have a long and distinguished AFL, career." - Calder Cannons region manager Martin Stillman. Vic Metro rep 2008. All Australian 2008. From Tullmarine FC.

Tyrone Vickery is another athletic tall who overcame a serious knee injury and returned to prominence in 2008. Starred both in the ruck and up forward for Victoria Meto in the championships.

TYRONE VICKERY - ruckman, Sandringham Dragons, Vic.

DOB: 31/5/90 Ht: 200cm Wt: 86kg

"He's exceptional. I'm sure Melbourne will have contemplated him as the No. 1 pick and if he doesn't go then, he'll go very high. Given what sides need, he could conceivably get through to Richmond but you never know what might happen. He's athletic, he's a good decision maker and he rarely turns the ball over. Right now I think he is a ruckman but that's not to say he can't be something else later on. He could well go forward and if he was a little taller then you could well be talking a Paul Salmon type." - Sandringham Dragons region manager Wayne Oswald. Vic Metro rep 2008. All Australian 2008. AIS-AFL Academy graduate. From Haileybury College.

Jack Ziebell is a power athlete who is not overly fast but makes up for that with excellent skills on both sides of the body, long kicking and great decision-making. Injured a knee during the championships but played out the season. A strong mark who can play midfield or as a third tall up forward, he has apparently impressed new Brisbane coach Michael Voss.

JACK ZIEBELL - midfielder, Murray Bushrangers, Vic.

DOB: 28/2/91 Ht: 188cm Wt: 84kg

"Jack's been a star since he was 14 or 15. He played the last six weeks of the year with a banged up knee (an injury sustained during the national carnival) so he hardly trained at all towards the end of the year but got through on class alone. A well balanced player who is a strong penetrating kick and can take a strong contested mark. Not super quick, not super athletic, hasn't got a super motor, but is very strong, loves the physicality of the game and doesn't mind crashing into blokes. Jack is the sort of kid that to me who will get reported a few times over his AFL career because he is so hard. He's not silly in terms of whacking blokes but he pushers the boundaries a bit, which will get him into strife now and then. In a year when our kids were starting to get a bit tired, Jack almost single handedly became our main focal point and got us over the line a few times with five and six goal efforts" - Murray Bushrangers coach Phil Bunn. Vic country rep 2008. AIS-AFL Academy graduate. From Wodonga FC.

There is a chance, of course, that some of the players I have covered so far might still be available at selections 17 and 19 but if not, there are plenty of names still available from the best of the best to be selected late in the first round and early in the second and one or two of them might filter all the way down to the club's fourth selection overall at 35. Melbourne recruiting manager Barry Prendergast was hopeful when quoted in the Sunday Herald Sun:

"You are just hoping that some good players will fall out at 17 and 19, because it is a good even draft," he said.

"We fully expect to get three good players there. Even pick 35 is a handy one for us.

"It is a strong position for any club and, hopefully, we can take advantage of that."

Like all of us, Prendergast is looking forward to Saturday where a year's hard work from the Melbourne recruiting team will chrystallise into six or seven selections (the Demons also have picks 51, 64 and 76 - the last of which will probably be passed for the pre season draft). Despite the apparent wavering, I think Jack Watts' name is just about set in stone at Demonland for pick 1 but who will join him in the red and blue in 2009?

Well, Prendergast might strike it lucky and pick up one of the gems that have been touted as first round selections and there are plenty of All-Australians in the best of the best who I still haven't covered. There are also some other handy players who could go within Melbourne's early second round range and we’ll look at them next time.