Feel-good story Harry Schoenberg lives his dream as Crows address key needs in draft
The Crows have pounced on South Australian under-18 MVP Harry Schoenberg with their second pick. Andrew Capel reviews all of Adelaide’s selections from day two of the AFL draft.
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One of the feel-good stories of South Australia’s under-18 campaign just got better, with a player who appeared unlikely to be drafted a year ago winding up at Adelaide.
Overlooked for the SA academy this time last year, Woodville-West Torrens midfielder Harry Schoenberg rebounded to win the Croweaters MVP at the AFL under-18 championships and will now get to live out his AFL dream at home.
Rated by SA under-18 coach Tony Bamford as a taller version of Essendon star Dylan Shiel, Schoenberg was the club’s second (No. 24 overall) of five selections at this year’s AFL national draft, where they – in a rejuvenation phase after losing a host of key players in the off-season – addressed some key needs.
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Schoenberg, who came from the clouds to win All-Australian under-18 honours, is a tall midfield bull who can burst away from the stoppages.
From Marrabel in the State's mid-north, he averaged 27 disposals and sjx clearances in the carnival after using his disappointment from being overlooked for the SA Hub to drive himself to be better.
“We loved Harry from a long way out,’’ said Crows national recruiting manager Hamish Ogilvie.
“To get SA’s best performed mid at the nationals was terrific.’’
After securing the draft’s best key position player, Victorian Fischer McAsey, with its top pick at No. 6, Adelaide balanced out its draft – and list – by taking a nice combination of talls and medium sized players who can play a host of positions.
It found a steal with its third selection, snaring 195cm key utility Josh Worrell at pick 28.
After moving back in the draft from pick 25 to 26 (which became 27 after a bid on Power-bound father-son product Jackson Mead) in a trade with Sydney, the Crows rejected the chance to take Schoenberg’s housemate and SA under-18 captain Will Gould, who wound up at the Swans.
Instead they went for the athletic Worrell, who was a teammate of McAsey at Vic Metro and Sandringham Dragons and had been tipped as a first-round selection.
He has been likened to Port’s Justin Westhoff.
Worrell is an excellent size and can play as a key position player at either end of the ground while having the speed and versatility to play on the wing.
He was Vic Metro’s leading goalkicker at this year’s under-18 nationals before having his season ended early after shoulder surgery.
“He’s your ultimate swingman and at 195cm will grow into a terrific athlete at AFL level,’’ AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan said.
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— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) November 28, 2019
Adelaide rounded out its national draft by taking strong Claremont inside midfielder Ronin O’Connor (No. 42) and tall but lightly-built Victorian wingman Lachlan Gollant (48).
Ogilvie said the club addressed its needs while finding some gold in the second round of the draft.
“To get Fischer and a pick next year (after trading selection four to the Giants for pick six and their 2020 first-round selection) is a fantastic result,’’ he said.
“Our record with picking tall defenders is pretty good and he’s just so competitive in the air that his core function in the team is either marking it forward or stopping them (opponents) from marking when he’s down back.
“Something rare for a tall player is that he sets up a lot of plays with his kick from defence, he’s a really good decision maker, so he’ll add a lot to us.
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“Overall, we wanted to get our midfield a little bit bigger and we felt we did that.’’
It is understood the Crows had earlier considered trading the No. 6 pick they used on McAsey for Carlton’s No. 9 (where they still would likely have been able to land the Victorian tall) and a future pick.
Negotiations are understood to have hit a roadblock when Adelaide reportedly demanded a future first-rounder from the Blues, who were offering only a future second-rounder.