Seventy six of the best 18-year-old football players across Australia have been invited to the AFL Draft Combine in October.
In previous years, up to 110 players were chosen to participate in the exclusive pre-draft testing, but that number has been cut down for a few years, with a shallow draft pool being one issue.
“The AFL sets up a working party, and as part of those discussions the AFL have decided that with more than 100 (players) it’s been harder to the clubs to focus their attention on the prospects that they really wanted,” afl.com.au’s Callum Twomey said.
“A number of players get to the combine and don’t have much to do because they spend a lot of time sitting around waiting for interviews. If you don’t have that many interviews you’re wasting your time a little bit.”
Vic Metro has 19 representatives at the combine this year, to be held at Etihad Stadium from October 8–11th. This figure is slightly lower than usual, but overall the Vic Metro talent group is rated by most experts as shallower than in recent years.
As a result, 19-year-old Alex Morgan was given the opportunity to play for Metro in the National Championships, where he impressed many recruiters.
Morgan currently attends Swinburne University, and is one of only five 19-year-olds invited to the combine.
Morgan was overlooked in last year’s draft, but he’s proved his doubters wrong this year.
The over-ager plies his trade as a quick and skillful defender for the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup, the premier under-18s football league.
In order to be invited to the combine, at least five AFL clubs have to say they are interested in a certain player.
Perhaps one of the most interesting stories of this year’s draft is Ben McKay. His identical twin brother Harry is considered a top-15 draft choice this year.
The twins are both 200 cm and AFL recruiters have fallen in love with their mobility and skill.
At the start of the year, Ben was training with the TAC Cup club Gippsland Power, but he didn’t think he had the ability to make it to the next level.
“I got invited to the Power for the pre-season. I did most of that, but then I had a fair bit going on and I was lacking the self-belief as I’d never been in the system,” Ben said.
“I played for Warragul in the seniors. I didn’t know what to do. I was holding up Leigh Brown (Gippsland Power coach), I just kept putting it off. I thought I’d do the right thing and tell him no.”
After seeing his brother Harry do so well, Ben seemed to realise that playing at the highest possible level “was what he wanted to do”.
His story is perhaps the most interesting of the entire draft pool. He came from nowhere, and in a matter of weeks has become one of the most talked-about players among recruiting circles.
