Sam Durdin gets picked at No. 16 by North Melbourne in AFL draft

WEST Adelaide’s Sam Durdin salvaged South Australia’s first-round draft hopes when he joined North Melbourne with Pick No. 16 last night.

WEST Adelaide’s Sam Durdin salvaged South Australia’s first-round draft hopes when he joined North Melbourne with Pick No.16 last night.

Durdin, a key defender who can pinch-hit in the ruck, was the only SA player who had his name called in the first round as the Kangaroos pounced.

Despite SA winning the under-18 national championship for the second consecutive year, it was the state’s leanest crop of first-round draftees since 2007 when Brad Ebert was the sole Croweater taken in the top echelon.

The average number of South Australians taken in the first round in the past six years has been four but last night Durdin was the sole shining light.

They did however come with a rush soon after with five SA players inside the top 40 when North Adelaide’s Harrison Wigg (No.35) went to Adelaide, Sturt’s James Rose (37) to Sydney, Port Adelaide’s Declan Hamilton (39) to Western Bulldogs and Glenelg’s Alex Neal-Bullen (40) to Melbourne.

Durdin was tipped by some to remain in Adelaide but the Crows overlooked him in favour of a similar style of player in Victorian tall defender Jake Lever with their first pick at No.14.

Standing 197cm and weighing 87kg, Durdin was best-on ground in West Adelaide’s under-18 grand final win and overcame a broken thumb early in the season to make his league debut.

He comes from a tiny farming community at Halidon, 200km east of Adelaide, and said he was very relieved to have found an AFL home.

“I’m very happy it’s all over and North Melbourne I can’t complain with that, it’s very good,” Durdin told FIVEaa.