AFL draft: Elwood Peckett emerges as father-son hope for St Kilda
Elwood Peckett says it would be a dream come true to follow his father Justin into St Kilda colours. He speaks to Paul Amy about how he went from having ‘a few ahead of him’ to genuine draft prospect.
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Dandenong Stingrays coach Nick Cox says there were question marks over Elwood Peckett at the start of the 2024 season.
There were none by the end of it.
The son of 252-game St Kilda stalwart Justin Peckett has proved himself an accomplished Coates Talent League player – and a worthy AFL draft candidate.
The Saints have nominated the 186cm, 18-year-old as a father-son prospect but have yet to commit to selecting him.
Collingwood and Sydney have also expressed interest in Peckett, who played mostly as a midfielder/forward this year and averaged 17.4 possessions from 16 matches.
His performance against Murray Bushrangers at Shepparton vaulted him into the Coates Talent League limelight and set off excited chatter among Saints fans: there were 25 touches and five goals.
Last month he attended the state draft combine, recording 3.06 seconds for the 20m sprint and 8.34 seconds for the agility test.
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Peckett was born in 2006, the year his father retired from St Kilda.
But he’s watched tapes of him, heard stories and concluded he was a decent player.
“He doesn’t say too much about it. But not many people play that many games. He must have done something right. He was a good, consistent player,’’ he says.
He’ll get no argument from Saints fans about a composed footballer who twice finished in the top three in the best and fairest and who extended his coolness off the field by driving a Chevy Bel Air and figuring in a TISM video clip.
Peckett junior has been involved in St Kilda’s Next Generation Academy for three years, being coached by Trent Dennis-Lane, Nick Dal Santo and, this year, Brendon Goddard.
He calls himself a “Saints man my whole life’’ and says it would be a “dream come true’’ to wear the jumper his father pulled on.
“I’ve been around the club for a while. I’m pretty comfortable there. It’s been awesome to be involved in the program,’’ he says.
At a time when the St Kilda administration is lamenting its lack of father-son selections, it has one at hand. But it’s a waiting game for Peckett, who went through the Bonbeach juniors and made his senior debut for the Mornington Peninsula club in 2023.
He also played four senior games for Bonny this year, in the last of them kicking three goals and having 30-odd possessions. It stoked his form and confidence and he took it back to the Stingrays – his hold-up of the Bushrangers came a fortnight later.
“It gradually got better and better, probably after the Vic Metro-Vic Country break,’’ Peckett says of his season.
As for the Shepparton show, “It was just one of those games where everything went right … it was good to get onto a few.’’
He also had a VFL debut for the St Kilda-aligned Sandringham late in the season, against Richmond at Punt Rd.
Peckett says the pace of the match set it apart from the Under 18s.
But he coped just fine, having 15 possessions. “It was just a good experience to play at that level and get my hands on the footy. Big step-up. You didn’t have long to get rid of the ball. Had to make decisions quickly. Good crowd too,’’ he says.
Justin Peckett and his wife, Teresa, were among it. They have seven children – Tiarn, Sam, Sunny, Jet, Elwood, Ace and Frankie-Coco – and all but Tiarn and Sam play football. “A few busy weekends for them,’’ Elwood says of his parents.
Back to that question mark over him going into 2024.
Last year as a bottom-ager he had to wait until late in the season to play three games for the Stingrays. The rest of it was spent with Bonbeach YCW Under 17s and Bonbeach Under 19s and seniors.
“You just wondered how far he could go and what he could do,’’ Cox says. “It looked like there were a few ahead of him.’’
But, he says, Peckett worked to the knuckle over pre-season, got terrifically fit, was voted into the leadership group (he captained the ‘Rays in three games, for three wins) and had a strong season, ending up a “pretty good overall product.’’
Stingrays talent manager Toby Jedwab had a query too. He wondered if Peckett would be a good Coates Talent League player or could develop into a draft prospect.
“I think in the middle of last year, it was actually a massive question mark on him,’’ Jedwab says.
“Then he played a few games and showed a bit. So we saw he could play the level, but could he elevate his game to the next level? Once pre-season started his attitude and training intensity were very different. Probably the penny dropped going into his top-age year. He was reliable, dependable, you knew what you were going to get.’’
Peckett got to work on his fitness and his kicking (which, he says, has improved “massively’’ in 12 months).
Cox sees a player who is strong overhead and in the contest, and “does everything well’’.
“There’s no real standout trait. He’s sound in everything he does,’’ he says, adding that Peckett is a “pretty relaxed individual’’, but driven too.
What will the Saints or another AFL club get if they pick up Peckett?
“They’ll get a nice player who will chip away and continue to get better over the next couple of years,’’ Cox says.
No question about it.
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