After a year to remember and a draft combine mishap, Glenelg’s Will Gould closes in on his AFL dream
He’s a Glenelg league premiership player and SA under-18 captain but Will Gould has polarised AFL recruiters. Now – after a long wait – he is about to learn his draft fate.
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His CV is as good as any player in the draft, but South Australian country boy Will Gould faces an anxious wait to find an AFL home this week.
While his playing record suggests he should be a top-10 pick, the Glenelg league premiership defender and dual All-Australian under-18 has polarised recruiters because of his size.
Some have suggested the 18-year-old is a boy in a man’s body and that he doesn’t have a big upside.
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Others were said to be put off when the 192cm Gould turned up overweight at the AFL Draft Combine in Melbourne just nine days after celebrating the Tigers breaking their 33-year premiership drought – a flag he played a big part in.
Gould, from Lucindale in the southeast where his parents run a sheep and cattle station, knows he will be drafted, but he is on the edge of whether it will be in the first round on Wednesday night or second round on Thursday night.
“That does complicate things a little bit,’’ the SA under-18 captain and renowned leader said.
“It puts you on edge a little bit more but it’s something out of my control now, there’s not a lot I can do, so we’ll just see how the cards fall.
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“Mum’s been up in Adelaide with me all week (from Lucindale) and dad starts shearing on Wednesday, which isn't great timing, so he’ll drive up that evening.
“We’ll watch the first round of the draft at my (Adelaide) home with my housemate Harry Schoenberg (a draft prospect from Woodville-West Torrens) and his family on Wednesday and a few of our mates will come over on Thursday to watch the rest of it and have a bit of a barbecue with us.’’
Gould, who has been linked to the Crows at picks 22 and 23, has been interviewed by all 18 AFL clubs but said he had no inside information as to where he will end up.
He has not been invited to the draft at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, which means he is not expected to be a top-20 pick.
“No idea at all,’’ Gould said when asked what colours he might wear next season.
“I think I’ll be a borderline first round, second round pick but that makes it awkward because I’m not sure whether I should be watching Wednesday or Thursday night.’’
Gould, whose size, maturity and game style have had him compared to West Coast premiership captain Shannon Hurn when he was drafted from SANFL club Central District in 2005, said he would love to stay in Adelaide to be “close to family and friends’’.
But he can see the upside of moving interstate “to experience new things’’.
Port Adelaide, which currently owns selections 12, 16 and 18, is in a position to take Gould and national recruiting manager Geoff Parker said clubs should “not hang him’’ for showing up at the draft combine 6kg heavier than usual.
He has since lost that weight.
“Will's got a great CV,’’ Parker told the The Lowdown AFL Draft Podcast.
“From that point of view he couldn’t have done any more to elevate himself up the draft board.
“The way he turned up at the draft combine, we don’t hang a kid for that. He had a great year and deserved to celebrate his season.
“His football does the talking, not the way he presents at the draft combine. He understands how to play the game and what it takes to be an AFL player.’’
Gould, who wants to follow in close mate Darcy Fogarty's shoes and be drafted from Lucindale (Fogarty went to the Crows at pick 12 in 2017), said it would mean the world to him to find an AFL home.
“It’s always been my dream,’’ he said.
“You grow up watching all the A-graders at Lucindale, where I was lucky enough to have some good coaches and role models, and to achieve the AFL dream would not only be amazing for me but also the family and the little community of Lucindale.
“The town was buzzing when Darcy was drafted and hopefully I can give it something to get excited about this year.’’