Brenton Phillips labels Kysaiah Pickett as the most talented SA player in the draft
“He’s one of those players that only needs to get a slight look at it and he can rip a game apart,’’ SANFL talent manager Brenton Phillips says of Kysaiah Pickett. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
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THE nephew of a gun is the most exciting Croweater in this year’s teenage talent pool and looms as a late draft bolter, according to SANFL talent manager Brenton Phillips.
While Norwood midfielder Dylan Stephens, Glenelg defender Will Gould and West Adelaide utility Will Day appear to have a mortgage on being the first three SANFL players selected at next month’s national draft, Phillips said Eagle Kysaiah Pickett is without peer when it comes to talent.
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“Based on pure talent and excitement, he’s the best,’’ Phillips told The Lowdown AFL Draft Podcast of the nephew of dual AFL premiership midfielder and 2004 Norm Smith Medallist Byron Pickett.
“He’s just an excitement machine, playing as that small forward he can really turn a game upside down very quickly.
“He’s one of those players that only needs to get a slight look at it and he can rip a game apart.’’
Phillips said Pickett’s remarkable left-foot snap goal from the boundary line in SA’s opening AFL under-18 championships match against Western Australia in Perth this year was an example of the type of magic he can produce.
“It was slippery, greasy conditions and he pushed the ball in front of him past an opponent and with his left foot went ‘bang’, straight through the middle for a goal,’’ Phillips said.
“There was a bit of (AFL Hall of Famer) Darren Jarman about that.’’
Making his league debut against Sturt in round two, he averaged a modest 13.7 disposals, three marks and 2.7 tackles at the national championships.
But Phillips said Pickett’s package of speed, athleticism, raw talent and upside would appeal to a lot of clubs.
“I expect that will push him up the order a little bit,’’ he said.
“What you have to remember with ‘Kozzy’ this year is that he was dealing with a number of things.
“It’s a really hard environment to go from SANFL, back to a school football program, then a national program, back to school again and then back to the Eagles.
“I think ‘Kozzy’ just needs some stability and once he gets into a (AFL) system and knows what he’s doing week in, week out, he’s going to move up with his football.’’
Phillips believes Pickett, one of 12 SANFL players to attend this year’s AFL Combine, will be among a group of Croweaters “clustered’’ in the late first to second round of the draft.
The group includes Port Adelaide father-son prospect Jackson Mead, classy Norwood forward Cameron Taheny, SA under-18 MVP Harry Schoenberg and North Adelaide’s Karl Finlay.
Pickett, 170cm and 67kg, is not only lightning quick and boasts natural goal sense but he can take a spectacular mark.
Uncle Byron — a game-changing, bone-crunching midfielder who played in flags with North Melbourne in 1999 and the Power in 2004 — said Kysaiah had “the whole package of tricks’’ and to “expect the unexpected’’ when he is around the ball.
“He can run, jump, kick goals, tackle and take a big screamer,’’ said Byron, who has played a key role in his nephew’s development.
“He could be anything.’’
Phillips said Pickett’s challenge was to showcase his obvious talent for longer in games.
“Certain coaches will see some of the things he does and go, ‘wow, how good is that, but I want to see more of it’,’’ he said.
“He’s got to become a full game type player but what he does have is electric speed.
“I sometimes cackle when I see his raw numbers in terms of his 20m sprint because he is the type of person who if you put a ball in front of he tends to chase a little bit harder than when he has to run from point A to point B.
“He reminds me very much of Byron in that he has that acceleration to get to people, which makes them nervous.’’