SANFL: Liam Mackie treads familiar path of cousin Andrew to AFL draft
MILY history may be repeating when it comes to Liam Mackie and his AFL draft prospects. Mackie’s cousin, Geelong triple premiership defender Andrew Mackie, was the bolter of the 2002 national draft.
FAMILY history may be repeating when it comes to Liam Mackie and his AFL draft prospects.
Mackie’s cousin, Geelong triple premiership defender Andrew Mackie, was the bolter of the 2002 national draft.
Andrew had been overlooked for SA’s under-18 squad, did not receive an invite to the national draft camp and spent the bulk of the season playing college football for Sacred Heart, yet the Cats plucked him from Glenelg with pick seven.
Fast-forward 14 years, Liam, also a rangy defender, missed out on state under-18 selection this season, split his time between Sacred Heart and Glenelg, and, like Andrew, got an invite to the state draft screening rather than the national combine.
But Liam’s draft stocks are rising on the back of a stellar under-18 finals series for the Tigers and a best-on-ground performance in Sacred Heart’s state knockout final triumph in August.
The 186cm, 73kg backman will undergo physical and mental tests for AFL clubs at the state screening at Wayville today. Anthony Goodrich, who coached both Mackies at Sacred Heart, says there are plenty of parallels.
“Liam’s a similar player, similar build, a little bit taller but very slight,” Goodrich said.
“He reads the game extra well and is a beautiful kick so they’re similar in a lot of ways.”
Geelong has been keeping tabs on the Plympton junior this season. The Cats and their recruiting guru, Stephen Wells, have made a habit of drafting smokies from SA.
Before Andrew Mackie there was Corey Enright (pick 47, 1999), who had spent most of the season on the Eyre Peninsula and only played a handful of underage games for Port Magpies.
Others include George Horlin-Smith (pick 37, 2010), a former Australian under-16 cricket captain who played almost entirely for Pembroke School in his draft year, and Matthew Hayball (pick 70, 2015), a Roxby Downs product who did not even have a profile on the AFL’s website.
Goodrich remembers Geelong being ahead of the pack in the race for Andrew Mackie.
Sacred Heart officials had told state under-18 selectors “they might have missed one” with Mackie but he was not picked and flew under the radar until starring in a reserves game for Glenelg late in the 2002 season.
“Brisbane were interested for a bit and Fremantle but those guys were jumping on the coat-tails a little bit — a delayed reaction,” he said.
“Geelong were on him.
“If a club does it well, they don’t show their cards and fly under the radar if they can.”
Goodrich says “you’d have to be a mind reader” to know whether Liam will be drafted.
“But I’m pretty sure there’s interest. I’d imagine he’d be a bit of a project player,” he said.
Paul Sandercock was a Geelong scout when Andrew was drafted and taught both Mackies at Sacred Heart.
“There are a few similarities with the way they’ve come on the radar late in the year, that’s for sure,” said Sandercock, now Glenelg’s football manager.
SA under-18 coach Brenton Phillips was considering Liam and his Sacred Heart and Glenelg team-mate Mitchell Hinge for a running defender’s spot in the state team.
“At that point in the season, I thought Hinge had him slightly,” Phillips said.
Phillips has been impressed with Liam’s development since midyear, particularly his showing in the state knockout final and under-18s finals.
“That’s the beauty of our under-18 competition, you can improve as the season goes on and they can stake their claims,” he said.
“He’s a good, running defender who uses the ball really well out of the back half and those are the types that a lot of clubs are looking for.
Tigers talent manager Brenton Hole said a couple of clubs mentioned Liam “all the time”.
He has not heard from Geelong but the Cats have a history of drafting Tigers players — they had five on their list this year.
“There’s obviously a family connection there with Andrew Mackie so you’d be surprised if they weren’t looking at him (Liam) closely,” Hole said.
STATE SCREENING INVITEES
Willie Rioli (Glenelg)
Andre Parrella (Sturt)
Jake Pitman (Norwood)
Peter Ladhams (Norwood)
Jackson Lee (Eagles)
Mitch Carter (Norwood)
Jordon Sweet (North Adelaide)
Lewis Young (Sturt)
Tye Bedford (Sturt)
Steven Slimming (Sturt)
Lachlan Cameron (West Adelaide)
Liam Mackie (Glenelg)
Brayden Kirk (North Adelaide)
Connor Noonan (West Adelaide)
Toby Pink (Glenelg)
Dylan Whimpress (South Adelaide)
Tom Charlton (Norwood)
Sam Draper (South Adelaide)