AFL Draft 2015: Brent Harvey gives tips to Jade Gresham to improve his footy

EVERY year, the smallest players in their respective draft crops are instantly compared with North Melbourne champion Brent Harvey.

Northern Knights midfielder Jade Gresham, who is likely to be a top-30 pick in this year's AFL National Draft.

EVERY year, the smallest players in their respective draft crops are instantly compared with North Melbourne champion Brent Harvey.

But for 177cm midfielder Jade Gresham, lessons learned from ‘Boomer’ haven’t just been picked up from watching his highlights tapes.

Rather, regular phone conversations with the 409-game Roos great provided Gresham with arguably the biggest influence on his year.

Such is Harvey’s longevity in the game, he played under 18s football with Gresham’s father, Jamie, for Northern Knights. Together, the pair helped the Knights to the 1995 premiership, where Harvey was named best on ground in the grand final.

The two have stayed in touch, enabling Harvey to become the ideal role model for Gresham in the midst of a testing season.

“They’re pretty good mates,” Gresham says of Harvey and his father.

“If I’m getting tagged or if I’m having trouble with crumbing and little stuff like that, I’ll ask him for some tips. Sometimes we just have general chats about what AFL clubs are like.

“I’ve rang him a few times and he’s been a good influence on my year.”

So far, Gresham has done all he can to follow in Harvey’s footsteps.

Having been named as the Knights’ first indigenous captain at the beginning of the year, Gresham took out the club’s best and fairest award and finished a close second behind Clayton Oliver in the Morrish Medal.

Jade Gresham in action for Vic Metro this year. Picture: Colleen Petch

Regarded as one of the most well-rounded midfield prospects in this year’s draft, Gresham is just as good as extracting the ball from stoppages as he is on the outside.

He was among the best in the clean hands test and the kicking test at the draft combine and was one of four players to record a perfect score in the goalkicking test.

He is also a quick learner.

Having set out to improve his endurance and goalkicking ability this season, he finished the year with a 14.1 beep and having booted 21 goals from 18 games across all competitions.

“The Knights wanted to see me kick a few more goals,” he says.

“I thought I showed I could kick goals, so it’s been good. It was mainly rotations, but a few games I played forward all game. I didn’t mind it, but I’d rather be in the midfield.”

Gresham averaged 29 disposals in the TAC Cup and 23 disposals in the championships, going at five tackles and five clearances per game in each competition.

Despite his size, he’s never looked a player that would shirk a contest and has announced himself as a lead-by-example captain at the Knights.

Getting selected by an AFL club later this month will now be the icing on the cake in what has been a rather satisfying year for the young gun.

“I’ve always wanted to play in the AFL, ever since I was little,” Gresham says. “When I was out the front as a kid having a kick with dad, I’d always dreamt about it.

“To get on an AFL list, I’d be over the moon. I not only want to do it for myself, but also my family and friends. They would be rapt for me.”

JADE GRESHAM

AGE: 18

HEIGHT: 177cm

WEIGHT: 74kg

CLUB: Northern Knights

POSITION: Midfielder

SUPERCOACH AVG: 146 (TAC Cup)

PLAYS LIKE: Luke Shuey

PREDICTED DRAFT RANGE: 10-25

IN THE MIX: St Kilda (14), North Melbourne (17), Carlton (19), Western Bulldogs (20-21), Essendon (24-25)

Originally published as AFL Draft 2015: Brent Harvey gives tips to Jade Gresham to improve his footy