Top SA draft prospects left in limbo, AFL clubs told not to talk to them
South Australia’s 2020 AFL draft prospects are in limbo, with their showcase seasons in jeopardy and clubs banned from interviewing them.
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South Australia’s 2020 AFL draft prospects are in limbo, with their showcase seasons in jeopardy and clubs banned from interviewing them.
With the AFL and State League seasons put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, SA under-18 coach Tony Bamford said the AFL had placed a temporary ban on clubs interviewing draft prospects online as it focuses on the wellbeing of its junior players.
Clubs have been told the players are off limits as they “regenerate and recover’’ from the stress of having the most important year in their football lives temporarily taken from them.
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Some draft prospects have taken the news of the football shutdown – for at least half the season – hard.
“Tarkyn Lockyer (AFL Academy head coach) and Marcus Ashcroft (AFL national talent pathways manager) communicated with us last week to say there would be no immediate contact, communication or training with the boys, just let the boys in our national programs have two weeks off,’’ said Bamford, who also oversees SA’s AFL Academy Hub of 30 players.
“They said they would come back to us with some details about whether we could do some online coaching or one-on-one stuff, just for their own happiness and to keep them moving.
“I’ve just been forwarding on the information we get from the AFL to our Hub players because we all agreed it was important that there was some uniformity across all five (state) Hubs throughout Australia.
“There’s obviously some disappointed boys who were looking forward to an important year.’’
SA has a host of strong draft prospects this year.
They include No. 1 pick contender, key forward Riley Thilthorpe from West Adelaide, Glenelg pair Luke Edwards – son of dual Crows premiership player Tyson – and Kaine Baldwin, South Adelaide’s Zac Dumesny, Central District’s Corey Durdin, Woodville-West Torrens trio Lachlan Jones, Taj Schofield and Henry Smith and Sturt’s James Borlase.
With no games until at least May 31, Bamford said the players would still be urged to “have the goal’’ of getting themselves drafted at the end of the season.
The AFL under-18 championships are scheduled to start in June but are likely to be cancelled because of border restrictions.
Bamford said this could mean each State playing their own internal trials, which would be videotaped and sent to recruiters.
Players would be interviewed via Skype or Zoom because of the clubs inability to meet the them face-to-face during the game’s shutdown.
But getting the latest data on their performances – and keeping players motivated – during the long lay-off will make it uniquely tough to assess this year’s draft hopefuls.
“For a while at least the recruiters will have no new vision to watch,’’ Bamford said.
He said the only positive from the teenagers not playing was that they could put more time into their Year 12 studies.
“A lot of them are still doing Year 12, so they can invest more time into their studies without football distractions, which is a big thing for these boys in Year 12,’’ Bamford said.