Glenelg duo Jackson Edwards and Daniel Fogarty the ones to watch for 2017 AFL Draft selection
ONE is the son of a former Crows star, the other a dynamic, tall forward who can also swing through the midfield.
ONE is the son of a former Crows star, the other a dynamic, tall forward who can also swing through the midfield.
Glenelg duo Jackson Edwards and Darcy Fogarty loom as two of the most tantalising SA prospects ahead of this year’s AFL national draft.
Edwards is the son of dual Adelaide premiership player and 300-gamer Tyson Edwards but is a taller, left-footed inside midfielder.
Come November, Edwards, 17, may follow in the footsteps of his cousin Ben Jarman by becoming a Crows father-son selection.
Last year Jarman, whose dad is Adelaide premiership hero Darren Jarman, was the club’s first father-son recruit and Edwards would be eligible to become the second this season.
Edwards has already impressed on the national stage, gathering 19 disposals and kicking a goal in an under-17 all-star match at Punt Rd Oval on grand final morning last year.
He has also sampled life as a Crow, training with the club for a fortnight in pre-season.
“You couldn’t picture him as his father – he doesn’t have the same sort of characteristics and is a bit taller (186cm compared to Tyson’s 179cm),” SANFL high-performance manager Brenton Phillips said.
“He extracts the ball really well, is a left-footer. He’s just a really good inside midfielder ... and he’s a really good contested ball winner.”
Edwards and Fogarty, also 17, are yet to make their league debuts for the Tigers but should feature this season around their state under-18 commitments. Last year they played together in Glenelg’s under-18 premiership.
Scouts will likely watch Fogarty closely in the national underage championships.
The 190cm forward featured in three of SA’s four under-18 matches last year, kicking seven goals, including four against the Allies.
There is a lot of football to be played before November’s draft but the Lucindale product is shaping as a candidate to be the first local chosen.
“Fogarty might be an early pick, how early I’m not too sure,” Phillips said.
“He’s a big, strong body ... and is a known goalkicker.
“He can play either end of the ground and has had a run through the midfield.”
Glenelg talent manager Brenton Hole said coaches in the AFL academy program “all love” Fogarty.
“He’s such a competitive animal, a really strong lad,” Hole said. Fogarty is among five Croweaters in the AFL academy level two squad, featuring players eligible to be drafted this year.
Sturt’s Jordan Houlahan and Callum Coleman-Jones and Woodville-West Torrens pair Tom Schmusch and Andrew McPherson are SA’s other members.
Those five went to the US with the academy for a fortnight in January for a high-performance training camp.
Houlahan is an emerging medium forward with a big leap, Schmusch is a versatile key-position prospect and McPherson is a ballwinning midfielder.
Phillips said Double Blues giant Coleman-Jones could also be in the mix to be the first Croweater drafted this year.
“He is a 199cm big man who’s got some mobility about him so he’s probably going to push into that area (top end of the draft),” he said. “He’s a forward-cum-ruckman and has a really nice set of hands.”
Only time will tell whether SA can improve on its surprisingly shallow draft showing last year. There were just four Croweaters selected among six SANFL-based players, far below pre-draft predictions.
Eleven SANFL products were taken in the rookie draft. But some highly-touted prospects, including Glenelg’s Jonty Scharenberg and Sam Walker and North Adelaide ruckman Jordon Sweet, were overlooked entirely.
“In the end, we probably got the numbers across the line, albeit through the rookie draft,” Phillips said.
“The two glaring ones who didn’t get picked up were Jonty (Scharenberg) and (Jordon) Sweet to a lesser extent. We’ll be around the same sort of numbers this year, I would’ve thought.”