Crows first-round draft pick Tom Doedee sets sights on Jake Lever’s spot and a long-awaited debut

YOUNG gun Tom Doedee is desperate to make his long-awaited AFL debut and has declared he is ready to replace Jake Lever in the Crows backline.

Adelaide’s Tom Doedee says he’s ready to make his AFL debut. Picture: Dylan Coker

YOUNG gun Tom Doedee has declared he is ready to replace Jake Lever in the Crows backline.

Revealing that being the only 2015 first-round draft pick yet to play an AFL game “eats’’ at him, the 20-year-old told The Advertiser he is desperate to make his long-awaited debut against Essendon in Round 1.

“With Lever gone to Melbourne there is a tall defender’s spot open and I want it badly,’’ said the 189cm Doedee, who has added 7kg of muscle since he was a shock first-round selection at pick 17 from Victorian TAC Cup side Geelong Falcons two years ago.

“The opportunity is there and there are a few of us fighting for it but after two years of playing SANFL I’m ready to get my shot.

“Since I was drafted I’ve had the goal, the want, to play AFL and I feel the dream is getting closer now.’’

KING OF THE KIDS: Adelaide’s Tom Doedee was the toast of Kangarilla Primary School yesterday as the Crows hit the road for their AFL Community Camp. Picture: Dylan Coker

A former State junior basketballer who didn’t start playing football until he was 16 at St Joseph’s College, Doedee says he is hurt by being the only player selected in the top 28 in 2015 yet to make his AFL debut.

In contrast, No.3 pick Callum Mills has played 46 games for Sydney.

“It eats at me,’’ said Doedee, whose draft class includes Carlton’s Jacob Weitering and Charlie Curnow, Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver, Hawthorn’s Ryan Burton and fellow Crow Wayne Milera.

“It ate at me a lot last year and has probably driven me a lot more than other people in that class.

“I felt that I was ready to play last year but the opportunity didn’t come. Now I want to prove that I was drafted at the right spot.’’

Tom Doedee in action for the Crows in the AFLX. Picture: AAP

Doedee’s drafting in the first round was questioned by rival clubs and Crows fans, particularly after top SA product Burton slipped to the Hawks at pick 19.

He finished runner-up in last year’s AFL Rising Star Award.

Doedee’s development at West Lakes has been curtailed by patella tendinitis in his left knee which ruined his first two AFL pre-seasons.

But, while still experiencing “minor’’ discomfort in the knee — “I’ve been able to do all the work and am in a good place,’’ he says — Doedee has not missed a beat this summer.

The athletic, smooth mover who finished runner-up to just-retired star Scott Thompson in last year’s Crows SANFL best and fairest, was a standout in Adelaide’s AFLX premiership win and in the opening JLT Community Series match against Fremantle.

He had 16 disposals and took five marks against the Dockers, floating across half-back where his intercept marking — a strong point of Lever’s game — was a feature of his play.

As for feeling the heat to perform as a first-round pick, Doedee - who models his game on triple premiership-winning Hawk Ben Stratton - says he is his own biggest critic.

“I don’t feel any outside pressure, just what comes from within because I’ve always put high expectations on myself,’’ he said.