Eagle Kysaiah Pickett’s star continues to rise with Will Gould joining Brenton Phillips in declaring he is SA’s most talented player
“The stuff I’ve seen him do week-in, week-out at school footy is incredible,’’ says Will Gould of fellow SA draft hopeful Kysaiah Pickett - the player he would pick if he was a recruiter.
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TOP SA draft hope Will Gould has joined the Kysaiah Pickett fan club, declaring he is not only one of the most talented players in the State but in Australia.
A week after SANFL talent manager Brenton Phillips labelled Pickett – the nephew of dual AFL premiership player Bryon Pickett – as the most gifted Croweater in this year's draft pool, Gould said he would be the first player he would select this year from SA outside of likely top-10 pick Dylan Stephens.
Speaking on The Lowdown AFL Draft Podcast with Stephens and asked who he would draft outside of the star pair if he was an AFL recruiter, Gould didn’t hesitate in nominating his SA under-18 and former Prince Alfred College teammate Pickett.
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“I seem to always pump his tyres up a little bit but if I was to pick anyone it would be Kozzy Pickett, definitely,’’ Gould said of the Port Lincoln product.
“I was lucky enough to be in the boarding house with him at PAC, he was the year below me but I managed to pull a few strings and get him up into our wing.
“Obviously it was a big change for him, coming into a school like PAC, and to help him out through that was amazing.
“And then to go out on a Saturday and watch him take screamers on everyone and kick goals from everywhere each week was something I will never forget.’’
Phillips claimed the Woodville-West Torrens small forward/midfielder was the most talented and exciting player among the SA crop, despite having just a modest AFL under-18 championships and SANFL campaign.
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“He’s just an excitement machine and can really turn a game upside down very quickly,’’ Phillips said.
Gould said he stood in amazement when watching Pickett strut his stuff at PAC.
“The stuff I’ve seen him do week-in, week-out at school footy is incredible,’’ Gould said.
“At training we used to try to palm people off to him and then felt sorry for a few boys he got hold of.
“He’s awesome, a really good kid.’’
Stephens also described Pickett as “one of the most talented kids not only from SA but in all of the draft’’.
“Some of the things he can do, nobody else can,’’ he said.
But Stephens said if he was to have one pick from SA it would be Eagle Harry Schoenberg, just ahead of his Redlegs teammate, forward Cam Taheny.
“After seeing what Harry did this year in not getting selected for the SA Hub at the start of the year, to take that criticism on board, work his butt off and then be our MVP at the national championships, that shows to me that he is willing to do whatever it takes to be an AFL player,’’ Stephens said.
“What he did at the stoppages, when on the move and the fly at the championships and being our leading ballwinner, our best player by a country mile, that was a real eye-opener to me and made me realise how good he is.’’
Stephens said Taheny’s talent was, like Pickett’s “through the roof’’.
“Some of the things Cameron can do, no-one else can, he just has to string it all together and become more consistent,’’ he said.