Devastated Jonty Scharenberg inspired by tough journies of Brownlow Medallists
SNUBBED Glenelg midfielder Jonty Scharenberg will use AFL Brownlow Medallists Sam Mitchell and Matt Priddis as inspiration as he tries to turn draft pain into glory.
SNUBBED Glenelg midfielder Jonty Scharenberg will use AFL Brownlow Medallists Sam Mitchell and Matt Priddis as inspiration as he tries to turn draft pain into glory.
Scharenberg — arguably the unluckiest player overlooked at this year’s national and rookie drafts — is devastated at his shock slide, after having earlier this season been considered a possible top-10 pick.
“Clearly he’s disappointed but he’ll pick himself up and we’ll work out what he needs to do in 2017 and hopefully his name gets called in 12 months’ time,’’ said Scharenberg’s manager, Ned Guy.
“Mitchell and Priddis are the type of people he’ll look at (emulating) because they were forced to do it the hard way, and without knowing Sam and Matt I’m sure the resilience that they showed after being overlooked initially has helped them become who they are now.’’
Four-times Hawthorn premiership midfielder Mitchell was overlooked in the 2000 draft before being selected at pick 36 the following year and becoming one of the greats of the game.
Priddis was overlooked at three national drafts before being selected by West Coast in the 2006 rookie draft and going on to win the 2014 Brownlow Medal.
Guy said he was “very surprised’’ 18-year-old ball magnet Scharenberg had not found an AFL home but said he would keep the feedback he had been given by AFL clubs “between Jonty and me’’.
“He knows what he needs to do next season and hopefully we can rectify the situation by this time next year,’’ Guy said, adding that the serious knee injuries suffered by Scharenberg’s brothers, Jake and Collingwood’s Matt, were not given as a reason for his draft snub.
SANFL high performance manager Brenton Phillips said he is “flabbergasted’’ that Scharenberg and his Glenelg teammate Sam Walker weren’t drafted.
The pair were the only draft-eligible All-Australian under-18 players from this year’s crop who didn’t have their names called.
Scharenberg was among AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan’s top-40 draft prospects and was rated by Champion Data as the 28th-best teenage prospect in the country.
“Jonty and Sam were the only (draft-eligible) All-Australians left on the shelf and why, I can’t answer that because I rate them very highly,’’ Phillips said.
“Perhaps they were in the wrong draft year because it was a very even bunch but they are both as flat as a tack because they should have been drafted.
“I’m sure they’ll bounce back because they are good kids who are involved in a strong SANFL competition and it can be quite sweet when you actually do make it (into the AFL) knowing that you had to do the hard work to get there.’’
It is understood the knock on 183cm Scharenberg is a lack of pace and inability to hurt the opposition but he is a highly-credentialed player who is an All-Australian, was a member of the AFL Academy squad, played league football at 16 and won the Alan Stewart Medal as best-afield in Glenelg’s under-18 grand final win against North Adelaide this year.
andrew.capel@news.com.au