Andrew Capel’s Road to the Draft: The Power academy player compared to a Bulldogs premiership star
PORT Adelaide has a draft ace up its sleeve, with Next Generation Academies prospect Martin Frederick compared to Western Bulldogs Norm Smith Medallist Jason Johannisen.
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PORT Adelaide has a draft ace up its sleeve, with Next Generation Academies prospect Martin Frederick compared to Western Bulldogs Norm Smith Medallist Jason Johannisen.
Woodville-West Torrens coach Michael Godden, who has overseen Frederick’s development at the Eagles, says the Power could grab a draft bargain because of the South Sudanese teenager’s rapid development.
“Marty is making really good progress and has become that Johannisen type, that explosive player off half-back,’’ Godden said.
“He's powerful and exciting and has been really good in some reserves games for us this year.
“I was watching that Allies game (against South Australia’s under-18s at the national championships) and he broke out from the back half twice and I just thought to myself ‘well, he’s drafted’, just from those couple of motions.
“He’s a powerful athlete and while he’s progressing really well he's still got a lot to learn, so there’s a lot of upside there. I think he will be a fine AFL player.’’
Johannisen is an electrifying half-back who won the Norm Smith Medal as best afield in the Bulldogs’ stunning 2016 grand final triumph against Sydney which ended a 62-year flag drought.
Frederick, 18, is one of two SA under-18 players in Port’s Multicultural and indigenous Next Generation Academies.
His Eagles teammate Kai Pudney — a prolific ballwinning midfielder — is the other.
He also is in draft contention.
“Kai accumulates a lot of the ball,’’ Godden said.
“We are still working on some of his execution but he’s an outstanding young man and he works so hard that he gives himself a chance (to be drafted).’’
Under AFL rules, Port is in the box seat to draft the pair.
As members of its NGA program, the Power gets the final call on them.
Much like the father-son rule, if a club selects a player at the draft Port can match a bid by using available points from other draft picks.
And if an NGA player isn’t called at the draft, the Power can get him cheap as a category B rookie, like it did with former South Adelaide midfielder Emmanuel Irra two years ago.
While Frederick — tipped to be a third or fourth-round draft prospect — is of South Sudanese heritage, Pudney has a Japanese background.
Frederick’s draft prospects went through the roof during SA’s under-18 championships winning campaign.
He enjoyed a strong carnival and was among the Croweaters' best in the decider against Vic Metro with his powerful run and carry from defence.
Frederick and Pudney, also 18, trained with the Power in the pre-season and apart from the physical aspect of training were involved in leadership meetings and weights sessions.
Port’s SANFL and Next Generation Academies manager Shane Grimm said the club had been pleased with the pair's development.
“They spent a fair bit of time with us in the pre-season and their development has continued through the Eagles and State under-18 program,’’ Grimm said.
“It would be great for us to get a look at these guys playing for us in the SANFL, as the rules allow for in other states, but they will do some further training with us for the remainder of the season.
“It would be a fantastic step for them both to end up on the Port Adelaide Football Club’s AFL list but if and how that happens will be determined closer to the AFL trade period and draft.’’
Frederick said he aspires to play AFL and wants to be a “role model’’ for multicultural kids.
“To show kids of any background that they can make it, would be really special for me,” he said.
SA EYE-CATCHERS
Jez McLennan
Central District
Fresh from making the All-Australian under-18 team, the rebounding defender made his league debut for the Bulldogs on the weekend against the Crows and appeared to make the step up with ease. While much of the attention at Elizabeth was on comeback Crow Brodie Smith — returning from 10 months out following a knee reconstruction — McLennan looked comfortable at the other end of the ground, finishing with 15 disposals and five marks.
Jackson Hately
Central District
All-Australian under-18 player this year and a key member of SA’s championship-winning team, Hately starred in Central’s hard-fought 16-point win against Adelaide at Elizabeth on Saturday. The big-bodied midfielder had 22 disposals and five marks and continued to illustrate his strong mix of inside and outside play. Has averaged 19 disposals in eight league games this year and should be a first-round draft pick in November.
Boyd Woodcock
North Adelaide
Another SANFL league debutant in round 15, the SA under-18 player produced a strong first-up performance against the Panthers at Noarlunga. While North lost by 41 points after being overrun in the final term, small forward/midfielder Woodcock — a Kadina product renowned as a ball magnet — impressed with 16 disposals, six marks, six tackles and a goal, earning praise from coach Josh Carr.
Connor Rozee
North Adelaide
AFL scouts would like the highly-skilled Rooster to win more of the ball but he showcased the quality that has him a likely first-round pick with an eye-catching display in his side’s loss to South Adelaide at Noarlunga. It wasn’t the amount of disposals (11) but the way he won and used the ball that was impressive. Rozee turned three of his touches into goals, including a long bomb from 60m, while also taking four marks and laying six tackles. A class act.
MATURE AGE WATCH
Luke Reynolds
Glenelg
Former Carlton rookie and Port Adelaide Magpies forward kicked six goals in his first game against the Pies at his former home ground at Alberton Oval on Saturday.
Recruited by the Tigers this year after playing just a handful of league matches last season because of Port’s good injury run, Reynolds, 23, has taken time to find his feet with Glenelg as it trialled him on a wing.
But after a short stint in the reserves, the athletic, long-kicking left-footer has returned to his more familiar position as a leading forward and he illustrated his quality against the Pies. Reynolds’ six goals included four in a devastating 10-minute period in the final term while he finished with 16 disposals and nine marks as the Tigers won by 35 points.
Jack Stephens
Sturt
Dual Double Blues premiership player racked up 29 disposals and 15 marks in his side’s upset 23-point win against the Eagles at Woodville Oval on Saturday which saw it leapfrog North into third position to keep its double chance finals hopes well and truly alive. The 191cm defender took several seasons to establish himself in Sturt’s league side but is now one of the best backmen in the SANFL business. The 26-year-old won the Jack Oatey Medal as best afield in the Double Blues’ 2016 grand final triumph against the Eagles and marshalled a Sturt backline on Saturday which kept the home side to five goals until three-quarter time and nine for the game.
THE QUOTE
“We’ve always had big hopes for him and hoped he would come to the fore and play some senior football early this year but he struggled a little bit, maybe with his confidence to make that step up to league football. But we saw just prior to the national (under-18) championships that he just started to grow a little bit and his workrate increased.
“He’s a terrific reader of the game at half-back but we were probably more down the lines of trying to get him to defend more effectively and play some one-on-one stuff, which he probably struggled with for a bit. But the day that he can get the blend right between being a one-on-one defender and then being able to create which he can do naturally because he takes a good mark, he comes across as the third man up really effectively, he’s going to grow very quickly into a very good player.
“Half-back and wing — they are the positions I think he will thrive in.’’ — Central District coach Rory Laird on teenage Bulldog Jez McLennan, who made his league debut in the 16-point win against Adelaide at Elizabeth on Saturday.
PLAYER COMPARISON
Izac Rankine = Andrew McLeod
BEST OF THE REST
Will Kelly
Defender, Oakleigh Chargers/Vic Metro
The son of Collingwood premiership defender Craig Kelly and brother of Adelaide backman Jake, Will has emerged as a possible top-20 draft pick after some excellent form at the AFL under-18 championships and in the TAC Cup. Available to the Magpies as a father-son pick — meaning they can get him at a discount price — Kelly overcame a slow start to the national championships to finish strongly and had 17 disposals in the final, championship-deciding round against SA. Well built at 193cm, the 17-year-old is tight and disciplined defensively while possessing a strong overhead mark, which separates him from some other defenders in the draft pool.
Isaac Quaynor
Defender, Oakleigh Chargers/Vic Metro
In what looms as another coup for Collingwood, Quaynor is a member of the club’s Next Generation Academy, meaning it gets first access to him through the bidding system, along with Kelly. A tough, running defender Quaynor, 18, is a possible first-round pick who has great dash out of the defensive 50. Of Ghanaian descent, he averaged 17 disposals and four rebound 50s in the national under-18 championships. “The NGA opportunity with the Pies is awesome, I’m super lucky to be in this position,’’ Quaynor said. “I just have to make the most out of it, get as much as I can out of this year and see what happens from there.”
PICTURE THIS
North Adelaide league debutant Boyd Woodcock at age 10 after being selected in the Yorkers (Yorke Peninsula) country representative basketball side.
SAY WHAT?
“We are very keen to get home grown talent. We know it’s a high level draft with top end talent from SA.’’ — Adelaide head of football Brett Burton.
SA DRAFT FLASHBACK
Caleb Daniel
Selected by the Western Bulldogs from South Adelaide at No. 46 at the 2014 national draft.
One of the feel-good AFL stories after there had been doubts about whether the skilful forward/midfielder would get drafted because of his small 168cm stature. Daniel didn’t start in South Australia’s victorious AFL under-18 championship team at the start of the 2014 campaign but by the end of the carnival he had emerged as high-level prospect because of his elite skill level and elite decision-making.
Daniel took little time to find his feet at AFL level and famously became a member of the Bulldogs first VFL-AFL premiership in 62 years in just his second season in the competition in 2016. He helped inspire the Dogs to come from seventh at the end of the minor round to win four consecutive finals and upset Sydney in the grand final.
Had 23 disposals against West Coast in Perth on Sunday and will be one the Bulldogs’ prime movers in Sunday's clash with Port Adelaide at Ballarat. “Caleb has shown that size doesn’t matter,’’ SANFL high performance manager Brenton Phillips said. “As a teenager he showed elite tendencies in multiple facets of the game which have enabled him to transition positively into the AFL system.’’
AFL DRAFT ORDER
(After Round 18)
1. Carlton
2. Gold Coast
3. Brisbane
4. St Kilda
5. Bulldogs
6. Fremantle
7. Adelaide
8. Essendon
9. North Melbourne
10. Geelong
11. Hawthorn
12. Adelaide (from Melbourne)
13. GWS
14. Port Adelaide
15. Sydney
16. Collingwood
17. Gold Coast (from West Coast)
18. Richmond
19. Adelaide (from Carlton)
20. Gold Coast
21. Brisbane
22. Port Adelaide (from St Kilda)
WORTH WATCHING
Potential No. 1 draft pick, Woodville-West Torrens key forward Jack Lukosius, will be pitted against the watertight Norwood defence in the top-of-the-table clash at The Parade on Friday night. The Redlegs have won 10 consecutive matches to earn SANFL flag favouritism.