Glenelg’s Darcy Fogarty will lead South Australian under-18 charge
THE youngster some expect will become SA’s first No.1 draft pick in more than a decade is spearheading the Croweaters’ national under-18 title tilt starting Saturday.
THE youngster some expect will become SA’s first No.1 draft pick in more than a decade is spearheading the Croweaters’ national under-18 title tilt starting Saturday.
Darcy Fogarty has caught the eye this year playing four league games for Glenelg as a big-bodied half-forward/midfielder.
Likened to the Western Bulldogs’ Jake Stringer, Fogarty is considered a realistic chance of ending SA’s drought at the top of the draft board.
The last Croweater taken first was also from Glenelg – Bryce Gibbs to Carlton in 2006.
Fogarty, 17, will have the chance to further impress AFL scouts during the national under-18 championships over the next month, starting against WA in Perth on Saturday.
But he is not paying attention to hype about his draft prospects.
“I’m just hoping to get drafted, but I don’t care if I go 50 or one - it’s an opportunity given,” says Fogarty, who also plays for Rostrevor College.
“This year I just want to play good, consistent football.”
No matter how early he is selected, Fogarty will spare a thought for his hometown of Lucindale and the people there who continue to support him.
His family’s farm in the south-east town was where the Year 12 student learnt to kick with both feet between a Stobie pole and a netball ring.
Later, Lucindale locals helped Fogarty’s family raise $1000 so they could pay for a trip to Canberra to represent SA’s under-12s at a national titles.
Making his A-grade debut for the Lucindale Kangaroos at 15 – after training with the seniors from the age of 11 – was the final step in his football journey in the country town before trying to make it in the city.
Fogarty, who has five sisters, makes the three-and-a-half hour trip back to Lucindale whenever he can during school holidays.
His mum Jackie came up from the town to watch her son’s SANFL league debut for Glenelg against Central District on April 29.
“I’m not really doing it for myself,” he says.
“If I’m lucky enough to make it to the AFL, it’s for my family, my friends and my hometown.
“They (Lucindale community) have done a lot for me, always been behind me and supported me.
“I just want to make my family proud.”
Fogarty, a member of both the AFL academy and SA’s under-18s, has sought advice about what awaits him ahead of the draft from Glenelg team-mate Jonty Scharenberg.
This time last year, Scharenberg was considered a certain first-round pick, only to be overlooked entirely.
“He just says ‘don’t try to get caught up in it because anything can happen. Appreciate what you’ve got at the moment and just have fun’.”
Fogarty has grown 4cm and added 2kg over the past year.
Rostrevor coach Steve Symonds believes the youngster, who now stands 193cm and 90kg, will get drafted among the top three.
Symonds says Fogarty can play a similar position to Stringer in the AFL, but compares his on-field presence to one of the game’s all-time greats.
“Darcy has got a bit of an aura about the way he plays the game, not unlike a young Wayne Carey with the way he had presence on the field,” Symonds says.
“I think Darcy could be a ready-made player for the AFL next year.”