By Marc McGowan
Werribee VFL standout Shaun Mannagh still had not done enough to convince recruiters he was AFL-worthy when this year’s mid-season draft came and went.
Six months later – and after adding an extraordinary six-goal, 27-disposal grand final performance in a losing cause to his AFL pitch – Geelong made his dream a reality by taking him with the No.36 selection on Tuesday night.
Shaun Mannagh was best on ground in the VFL grand final.Credit: AFL Photos
Geelong recruiting great Stephen Wells revealed afterwards they had made up their mind on the 26-year-old midfielder before that stupendous grand final display, which earned him the Norm Goss Medal. In fact, he joked they were a tad disappointed he played so well.
“Shaun’s a player we think deserves an opportunity on an AFL list, obviously,” Wells said.
“His performances over the last couple of years have been terrific – and this year, he went to another level again, we felt. We were having a lot of picks at the draft, so we wanted to get a bit of a mix and match-type list profile – different types of positions and different types of age profiles.
“We’re very, very happy to give Shaun an opportunity. We know he’s going to really appreciate it and come in and make an impact at our club straight away.”
“We’d all go and watch the footy and say, ‘Gee whiz, look at what Ollie’s doing’.”
Stephen Wells
Mannagh was the Cats’ third of six picks at the draft, behind giant defender Connor O’Sullivan (No.11) and 206-centimetre ruckman Mitch Edwards (32), as they plot their ascension up the ladder after a disappointing follow-up campaign to last year’s premiership.
He was not the only fairytale story, with Geelong dipping into their local football region again at pick 61 to pluck exciting forward Oliver Wiltshire, who kicked 48 goals in 16 games for Barwon Heads in the Bellarine competition.
AFL Academy captain and strong-bodied midfielder George Stevens (58) and Swan Districts midfielder Lawson Humphries (63) rounded out the club’s haul.
The Cats will hope Wiltshire can become the next Tom Stewart, and they actually learned from the five-time All-Australian’s stunning rise by drafting the 21-year-old before even bringing him into their VFL outfit.
Oliver Wiltshire (right) in action for the Geelong Falcons in the Talent League in 2021.Credit: AFL Photos
“Ollie’s never done anything like an AFL pre-season, so it’s going to be really interesting to see how he develops,” Wells said.
“Ollie’s a smaller player, but he’s got a great spring, is a terrific endurance athlete, and can just do something that’s a bit uncanny, I suppose. We’d all go and watch the footy and say, ‘Gee whiz, look at what Ollie’s doing’. He can kick a brilliant goal, take a high mark, and we think, of course, there’s a lot of upside, given he’s coming from where he is.”
Mannagh was linked to Fremantle ahead of the draft, and while the Dockers traded up to make an early pick on the second night they instead snapped up Dandenong Stingrays co-captain Cooper Simpson one selection earlier.
Ex-Docker and Sun Michael Barlow coached Mannagh at Werribee and was a big rap for the late bloomer, while the man himself credited Brownlow medallist Jason Akermanis, with whom he played one season under at North Albury, as a major influence on his rise.
Fremantle could have matched any bid on Edwards if their Next Generation Academy prospect made it beyond pick 40, but Geelong probably had to pick him where they did, given St Kilda – who had the next selection – also expressed interest in him.
The big man, whose athleticism and skills have seen him likened to All-Australian ruckman Tim English, was considered a top-10 chance entering the season, but was unable to live up to the hype. One of the knocks on Edwards is his running ability, but he slashed about a minute off his two-kilometre time at the draft combine, in a sign he has further development and upside in him.
“I’m over the moon,” he told Fox Footy. “They are the team I support, so it’s really a dream come true.”
Edwards worked closely with Dockers ruckmen Sean Darcy and Luke Darcy via his academy connection, but they will be rivals going forward. He was not the only academy prospect to narrowly miss out on joining the club he had ties to, with new Magpie Tew Jiath (No.37) and Bomber Luamon Lual (No.39) not able to make it to Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs, respectively.
Jiath is a defensive speedster and interceptor like his brother, Hawk Changkuoth, and recruiters rate him as more advanced than his sibling at the same age. He burst onto the scene in the second half of this year.
“I think once I got used to the level of footy [at Coates Talent League level], that’s when it started to click for me,” Jiath said. “It came down to just getting games under my belt.”
Forward-ruck Archer Reid, brother of Essendon’s Zach, was the first player taken on night two, after West Coast selected his namesake, Harley Reid – no relation – with the top pick on Monday.
The biggest sliders were Sandringham Dragons pair Ollie Murphy (Fremantle at pick 41). Archie Roberts (Essendon at 54) and Tasmanian Arie Schoenmaker, who feared he would not be drafted before St Kilda finally called out his name at No.62.
Schoenmaker was the Saints’ fifth and final pick, joining midfielder-forward Darcy Wilson (18), mercurial goalsneak Lance Collard (28), defender Angus Hastie (33) and pressure forward Hugo Garcia (50) in heading to Moorabbin.
Carlton added more speed with the selection of Dandenong Stingray Billy Wilson, while Richmond selected South Australian midfield enforcer Kane McAuliffe before adding key forward Liam Fawcett.
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