Road to the draft: The emergence of Chris Burgess ‘one of the best stories in my time in footy’, says Mark Mickan
CUT by his SANFL club at age 14, invited to a Come ‘n’ Try session at 18 and hot AFL property at 22. Welcome to the remarkable rise of West Adelaide utility Chris Burgess.
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CUT by his SANFL club at age 14, invited to a Come ‘n’ Try session at 18 and hot AFL property at 22.
Welcome to the remarkable rise of West Adelaide utility Chris Burgess.
In a year where South Australia is flush with elite teenage draft talent — as many as six Croweaters are in first-round contention — one of the feel-good stories is of a SANFL cast-off and amateur league footballer who waltzed into an open slather Bloods pre-season “tryout’’ and asked for a go.
Four years after being one of eight suburban footballers who worked out at Richmond Oval in front of then West coach Mark Mickan, Burgess has met with 11 AFL clubs, including the Crows, and the phone of Bloods football manager Andrew Marks has run hot.
“It’s pretty cool,’’ Burgess told The Advertiser.
“Obviously there is a fair bit still to play out but hopefully all goes well and I do get picked.
“There’s been a lot of interest in me and from what clubs are saying I’m a fair chance to get drafted, which would be a dream come true and mean all the hard work has paid off.’’
Burgess has been invited to test in front of scouts from all 18 AFL clubs at the SA Draft Combine on October 13.
It is an astonishing jump from a player who four years ago was playing division two football for Adelaide Footy League club Flinders Park.
Then Reds coach Sean Jackson — a SANFL reserves premiership coach with Woodville-West Torrens and Sturt — suggested Burgess attend West’s Come ‘n’ Try session where local footballers are given the chance to impress enough to earn an invite to pre-season training.
Having grown an incredible 20cm in his final year-and-a-half at St Michael’s College to measure an impressive 194cm, Burgess was no longer a tiny wingman that got cut from the Eagles under-age squads at age 14 but an athletic key position player.
“Two days after I tried out Mark rang to say I could do a pre-season with West, which I am forever grateful for, and I guess the rest is history, I’ve been there ever since,’’ Burgess said.
Mickan, who coached the Bloods to their first flag in 32 years in 2015, said Burgess “just scraped in’’ to earning a training invite “because he was a bit awkward and loose with his ball handling’’.
“He was a quiet kid so we put that down to nerves and picked him on his physical make-up because he looked tremendously athletic, very lean, quick and agile,’’ Mickan said.
“Once he got into our program and began to feel comfortable he started to take off.’’
Burgess had a development year in 2015 when he combined SANFL reserves football with six division three games for Flinders Park.
He made his league debut at the start of 2016 and hasn’t looked back, playing 47 games and kicking 24 goals.
“Chris has terrific AFL qualities and can play as a defender, forward or wingman so I’m not surprised there’s been a lot of interest in him,’’ Mickan said.
“He’s come from the clouds and is one of the best stories in my time in footy.’’
Marks said AFL clubs’ interest in Burgess — a strong overhead mark and long, accurate kick — intensified after he was moved from defence to attack in the second half of West’s round 16 loss to Glenelg and kicked four goals.
“We know of a VFL coach who came over here that weekend to see if he could recruit some players and he watched three SANFL games and told us that Chris was the best player he saw,’’ Marks said.
“We’ve been getting calls from AFL clubs wanting to know more about him all the time.’’
Burgess said he has to pinch himself to comprehend how his football has taken flight after.
being “pretty devastated’’ when he was told at 14 that he was no longer wanted by the Eagles.
“It’s pretty cool to know that you can come through a different pathway,’’ he said.
“Most people who are a chance to get drafted go through the SANFL junior system and I was pretty devastated to be cut as a kid.
“But looking back I probably wasn’t the best footballer when I was young and being let go has definitely pushed me to work harder and helped me to get where I am now.’’
andrew.capel@news.com.au