AFL mid-season draft 2021: The boom prospective Roo clubs would have clamoured for
The man the Roos plan to take No.1 in the Mid-Season Draft is so good, some club’s would have used a top-10 pick in the National Draft to get him.
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Rivals would have been prepared to use national draft picks as high as No.8 for North Melbourne’s imminent mid-season draft signing Jacob Edwards if he was still available in November.
North is set for a massive list boost with Edwards’ acquisition, with the Roos open to a longer-term contract for the Sandringham Dragons ruck-forward as he prepares to nominate for the June 2 draft.
Edwards massive scope for improvement means clubs have him ranked in the 8-12 bracket on their draft lists, which shows what a bargain he will be for the Roos.
They would have to win both of their remaining games to jump over Hawthorn and lose the first pick in the mid-season draft given a poor percentage.
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But while clubs expect around 10-12 picks to be taken, multiple clubs with picks might pass given the thin talent available and cost of securing the players.
The COVID cuts handed out by the AFL will bite deep, with clubs having to pay $50,000 for the three-month contract but also strapped for coaching resources.
Clubs with long-term prospects like Edwards will know they can slowly bring them along as project players.
But clubs keen to fast-track prospects for immediate AFL games will have to pour an enormous amount of training and off-field coaching into them to ready them to action.
Most AFL clubs have coaching panels which are already exhausted and attempting to double up their responsibilities with nearly 40 per cent cuts.
Clubs with picks could end up passing in the knowledge that they don’t have the adequate man hours to be confident to bring those mid-season draftees up to speed.
Edwards is a 202cm ruck-forward for the Sandringham Dragons who nominated for the national draft last year but was overlooked.
The Roos overlooked key tall Logan McDonald for midfielder Will Phillips in last year’s national draft but will now be able to secure the successor to Todd Goldstein.
What makes him even more valuable is the lack of key talls in the early selections in the 2022 national draft.
Athletic 203cm ruckman Sam Darcy has shot up draft boards and will become a third-generation Western Bulldog after dad Luke and grandfather avid, who played 133 games for Footscray.
He could end up a top-10 pick for the Bulldogs as a father-son selection, while the draft’s other potential ruck pick Ned Moyle will be taken off the table with a mid-season pick.
Clubs including Collingwood, Gold Coast and Hawthorn are looking for young ruckmen.
Brisbane football boss Danny Daly said yesterday the Lions were likely to put Cam Rayner onto the long-term injury list and take a pick.
The Lions have a list management meeting next week where they will decide but look intent on taking a pick that might see them secure a long-term talent.
Richmond’s Ivan Soldo is not yet out for the season but two recent knee surgeries after last year’s ACL tear will make it hard for him to return.
The Tigers will have to decide by June 2 whether to shut him down for the year and create room for a mid-season selection.
THIRD TIME LUCKY? TALL IN MID-SEASON DRAFT MIX
Former Geelong forward Wylie Buzza is in the mix to swap a lifeguard uniform for an AFL jumper of similar colours and secure a home at a third club.
The Gold Coast Suns have expressed strong interest in Buzza as a mid-season draft prospect after a sizzling start to the VFL season from the 199cm Werribee forward.
Buzza has averaged 14.3 disposals, 5.8 marks and kicked eight goals from four VFL outings this season, including a bag of four majors against Collingwood in Round 1.
Originally drafted to the Cats with pick 69 in the 2015 national draft, the 25-year-old played nine AFL games in four seasons for Geelong before being picked up by Port Adelaide as a delisted free agent last year.
However, COVID-19 restrictions meant he was unable to play any second-tier football to push his case for senior selection while at the Power, Buzza’s year primarily spent in Adelaide training in groups of eight.
Buzza is currently working as a pool lifeguard and duty manager at a leisure centre in Melbourne’s western suburbs, but has nominated for the mid-season draft on June 2.
“It’s still the dream,” Buzza said of an AFL return.
“I feel like a few things just haven’t fallen my way and it’s no one’s fault, but I still think I have something to show at that level and something to prove and I would love that opportunity again.”
Buzza and his partner Sarah are both originally from Queensland, meaning a move north to the Suns would be a perfect fit.
However, the key forward said he was open to any AFL opportunity that came his way, wherever they were around the country.
Werribee coach Michael Barlow said Buzza had found some good continuity with his body this year and it had led to some impressive form on the field.
“He’s going super,” Barlow said.
“His strengths are his ability to attack the ball in the contest but he’s also quite nimble when the ball hits the ground and quite crafty with his ability to follow up on second effort.
“I’m quite biased with my players but I think there’s six to eight in our system that could go on and have a real impact at AFL level. Wylie is certainly one of those.”
The Suns are understood to see Buzza as a player who could give them greater presence in attack and also fill in as a back-up ruckman.
Gold Coast do not currently have any list spots available but have the ability to open up two spots by moving Jarrod Witts and Connor Budarick to the inactive list given they have both been ruled out for the season with ACL injuries.
TIGER CHAMP’S SON A MID-SEASON DRAFT BOLTER
Craig Lambert’s son, Bailey, is being scouted by AFL teams for the mid-season draft after drawing hype as a 182cm marking forward with Frankston.
But Nathan Freeman’s monster possession tallies in the VFL are not expected to convert into a mid-season draft opportunity.
Former Collingwood and St Kilda midfielder Freeman, taken at pick 10 in the 2013 national draft, is averaging an astounding 41 possessions in the VFL.
But AFL recruiters believe he needs to develop into a more damaging midfielder who hurts rivals with his disposals.
His Frankston coach Danny Ryan said yesterday the 25-year-old, working with Connors Sports, was happy to continue with the stand-alone VFL side.
“In a sense I think he’s nonplussed about it. Deep down in his heart he would love a shot but there are still questions about will the body stand up at a higher level,” Ryan said.
“He hasn’t been on a modified program this year, he’s just trained. So he’s got enough confidence in his body he can train flat out.
“There would be a question on his disposal and his defensive side, but he’s averaging 40 touches and it’s about strengthening his strengths and working on his weaknesses.
“We are seeing him run two ways. I reckon Nathan himself is probably reconciled to it, he knows where his path lies and he’s fully invested in the new Frankston and he knows he has a pathway with Paul and he is working away as a mentor to young players.”
Lambert, whose father Craig won best-and-fairests at both Richmond and Brisbane, played for Noble Park and then struggled for opportunities at the Tigers’ VFL side before landing at Frankston.
He is averaging 2.8 goals and 15.3 possessions for the 3-1 Frankston side in the new-look VFL.
“He has a certain X factor about him, and he is amazing overhead,” Ryan said.
“He has really good craft and he can get separation at one-on-one contests and he’s highly skilled. He has got some interest. He has great footy IQ like his dad and his ability to impact defensively as a high half forward saw his goals coming off defence.”
GORRINGE LOOKS TO COME FULL CIRCLE
Some AFL dreams never die.
Of all the 300-plus names in the AFL’s list of mid-season prospects, one stood out.
Daniel Gorringe, Powelltown Football Club.
Gorringe is famous for his wicked sense of humour as he relentlessly mocks his own career as a No.10 draft pick for Gold Coast.
The 28-year-old played two seasons at Carlton before finishing third on last year’s version of Big Brother 2020.
The 200cm forward has played football for a series of local football clubs in recent years and admits the odds of him being drafted are preposterously low.
But, as he told the Herald Sun, why not at least throw his hat in the ring?
“I know a lot of mates probably think I am taking the mickey but it’s something I want to do,” he said.
“I have kept fit the whole time and if you are looking at someone who knows senior footy and knows how game plans work I could be a handy pick up on a list for half a year as back-up.
“I signed at Powelltown and before that I was at Wandin and Park Orchards. It’s been funny to think my career took off (with Big Brother) after footy but it’s been a great ride.
“When I was in the system I enjoyed it but I probably took my footy too seriously, I came out and can see the lighter side of things so having fun with my footy and life in general has been great.
“It would be a great story and for a guy who was in the system for seven years, I had some potential but I didn’t take advantage of that. I floated through and lacked a bit of internal belief but deep down I believe I have something to give.
“I certainly won’t be waiting by the phone. But there might be a club out there who believes I can play a role.”
Goodluck to both teams in the battle of Gorringe Cup @GoldCoastSUNS@CarltonFCpic.twitter.com/u7IrfBdgNH
— Daniel Gorringe (@GorringeDaniel) April 10, 2021
Gorringe’s AFL career was decimated by two Achilles injuries and a serious knee injury.
He later admitted he had “given everyone a serve” at Gold Coast after verbally agreeing to a trade back to Port Adelaide in 2014, before having to apologise when the trade fell through.
“I had just decided, because of my treatment at the Suns, to give everyone there an absolute serve on the way out. Sure enough, day one of pre-season. I didn’t get traded.
“I had to say sorry everyone, and let‘s have a great year boys.”
His series of Twitter memories laughing at the bizarre aspects of his career went viral as he put his career into perspective, with Gorringe recently producing a podcast called List Cloggers.
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