Bottom-age trio headlines South Australia’s best top-end draft crop in nearly a decade

SOUTH Australian bottom-age draft prospects Jack Lukosius, Izak Rankine and Connor Rozee are on track to be top-10 picks at next year’s AFL national draft.

West Adelaide’s Izak Rankine is ready to play AFL now, according to SA coach Brenton Phillips.

AS South Australia fights to keep its AFL under-18 championships hopes alive on Friday, its bottom-age players — not this year’s draft crop — have been all the rage.

While Glenelg’s Darcy Fogarty has been mentioned as the possible No. 1 pick this year — his draft stock has plummeted during the first two rounds of the championships — recruiting scouts have been more enamoured with what looms as SA’s greatest top-end draft crop since 2010.

Bottom-age prospects Jack Lukosius, Izak Rankine and Connor Rozee are already in the conversation for top-10 selection at the 2018 national draft – labelled a “Super Draft’’ – while Jackson Hately also is in first-round contention.

South Australia’s Jack Lukosius in action against the Allies. Picture: ROGER WYMAN

“This is the best group of high-end SA prospects coming through the system that I have seen for nearly a decade,’’ said one recruiting manager, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

“Clearly there is still a lot of water to go under the bridge – injury and form can strike any young player – but right now Lukosius, Rankine and Rozee are not only top-10 prospects but in top-five calculations.’’

The last time SA had three players drafted in the top 10 was in 2010 when Sturt’s Sam Day went to Gold Coast at pick three, Woodville-West Torrens’ Jared Polec to Brisbane at five and Norwood’s Daniel Gorringe to the Suns at 10.

SA under-18 coach and State talent manager Brenton Phillips has hailed his elite group of bottom-agers, who are all in the level one AFL Academy squad, as being “as good as there is for their age group in the country’’.

Phillips said West Adelaide small forward/midfielder Rankine, 17, who made his league debut last year, is so freakishly-talented and advanced in his development that he is capable of playing AFL now.

“If he was on an AFL list, he would be playing AFL right now – he is that good,’’ Phillips said.

“He has some fine attributes, a lot of traits and tricks that suggest he could play now – elite speed, elite ball use and he makes good decisions. There’s a bit of (Crow) Charlie Cameron about him.’’

South Australia’s Izak Rankine gets his kick away against the Allies. Picture: ROGER WYMAN

Eagles key forward Lukosius, 16 and an imposing 195cm, was named SA’s best player in its round two 51-point triumph against the Allies.

He took eight marks and kicked three goals opposed to Jarrod Brander, a key defender tipped to be taken early at this year’s draft.

“Jack’s a bigger version of (Hawthorn’s) Jack Gunston,’’ Phillips said.

“He has good hands, is really agile for his height and always presents up at the ball because he works so hard. You want the ball in his hands because he is a very smart ball user.’’

North Adelaide midfielder/forward Rozee, 17 and 184cm, has had a quieter start to the under-18 championships but is silky-skilled and won the Kevin Sheehan Medal as the best player at last year’s national under-16 titles.

“He’s similar in lots of ways to Rankine in that he has elite speed, good endurance, really good game sense and is a tackling machine,’’ said Phillips.

Midfielder Hately, 16 from Central District, also has impressed as a bottom-age prospect, having had 27 disposals in SA’s heartbreaking one-point, extra-time loss to Western Australia in round one.

The SA team (1-1) flies to Melbourne on Thursday to play unbeaten Vic Metro at Etihad Stadium on Friday and Vic Country at Simonds Stadium next Wednesday needing to likely win both games to stay in championship contention.

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