Latrelle Pickett joins cousin Kysaiah at Melbourne in draft fairytale
Melbourne has drafted Latrelle Pickett with pick 12 — the exact same selection used for his superstar cousin Kysaiah in 2019 — after his meteoric rise from community football in South Australia.
Melbourne has produced a family fairytale, selecting Glenelg reserves bolter Latrelle Pickett to partner his cousin Kysaiah in the Demons forward line.
Pickett, who turns 20 in December, joked that he snuck in through the back door as a late invite to the draft event at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday night before the Demons read out Xavier Taylor and Pickett with their consecutive selections.
The livewire small forward was taken with pick 12 – the exact same selection as Kysaiah in 2019 – and received his guernsey from his cousin who he views as a “big brother”.
It capped a meteoric rise for Pickett, moving back home to Port Lincoln in 2023 after just three games for Norwood’s under-18s before playing community footy with Tumby Bay in the Great Flinders Football League from 2023-24.
The livewire forward captured the attention of clubs in the SANFL reserves with Glenelg, booting 32 goals across nine games, and slotting four majors in his league debut for the Tigers later in the season.
Pickett had strong interest from clubs behind Melbourne - including Hawthorn, North Melbourne and GWS - and toured Essendon’s facilities on Monday.
Then came a mad dash to get back to Melbourne for the draft on Wednesday.
“I had to really sneak. I was here on Friday, and I flew out Monday, and then had to come back. So I got told (Tuesday), so pretty late, and had to fly over this morning,” Pickett said.
“Still trying to get (my head) around it, but I can’t. It’s just a dream come true, so really happy at the moment.
“(Having Kysaiah) will be heaps important. That’s I think a reason why they want to pick me up Melbourne, just to be around Kozzie. He’s like a big brother to me.
“When I went back home (in 2023) it was pretty tough times then. Pretty immature, I guess I could say, but definitely now mature.
“Been away from home the whole year, and maybe went back twice this year. So definitely mature and all my family and mates are back home, just been growing on my own.
Pickett is also the cousin of former Melbourne, North Melbourne and Port Adelaide star Byron.
Seeing Kysaiah and his close mate in Fremantle small forward Isaiah Dudley, who missed out in his draft year before earning a supplemental selection period chance, inspired him to chase his dream at Glenelg this season.
“Same sort of situation as me, I guess. He missed out in his draft year when he was meant to go, he had a big talk about that, him missing out,” Pickett said.
“Then getting the train on, and then playing a few games. And his first year was pretty crazy. So yeah, just thought, ‘Why not do the same as him?’
“Just wanted to give it a crack and make my family proud, really.”
Melbourne recruiting manager Jason Taylor said there was plenty of work behind the scenes from the club and other stakeholders to get the Picketts on stage together.
“Footy needs some wonderful stories, it’s not always wonderful stories that come through,” Taylor said.
“We knew that Latrelle was in the mix to be fair and we wanted to make it a special thing with the jumper presentation.
“So we tried to do that as best we could under wraps and make that happen - if it was to happen. Fortunately it fell that way, and it is a great story for not only Latrelle and Kozzie and their families, but also the Melbourne Footy Club and the AFL world in general.
“His management group were involved with that and made that happen. And we might have had a little bit of a helping hand with some people in the AFL.
“But we were just determined. There was a lot of interest around Latrelle we felt around their selection and just beyond that, so we just wanted to make that work.
“It would have been easier to actually just go, ‘Oh, nah we’ll just leave him at home’, but why not make it a special story for not only him, but for Kozzie as well and their families.”
Kysaiah, who signed a monster seven-year extension in June tying him to the club until 2034, has been actively advocating for Latrelle.
“He’s been in our ear every year, every week for a long time now, and not only Latrelle, but a lot of others,” Taylor chuckled.
“He’s got a genuine invested interest in the Melbourne Footy Club and getting in good players, and we love the fact that he’s so invested.
Having tracked Latrelle for the past two and a half years, Melbourne pleased by his enhanced maturity and feel he fills a need in the forward 50.
“The talent was always there. It’s just about the application, and getting to work. And we feel that he’s ready to go now,” Taylor said.
“We feel like he is just going to add a different dimension to our forward line.
“It’s an area of the ground that we wanted to add to, and there was some quality small forward in it, and we really like what Latrelle offers.”
The selection of Taylor didn’t come with the same romanticism, but his namesake was just as excited to get the Eastern Ranges defender through the door.
“He gets through the first line of defence, and he turns defense into offense, and it’s really important in today’s footy,” Jason Taylor said.
“And he’s just got a bit of spunk about him, the way he presents and plays, and he’s got a real will to win. We were thrilled to get him.
“(He’s) confident in a good way. We feel like he plays footy in the manner that breeds success.”
Originally published as Latrelle Pickett joins cousin Kysaiah at Melbourne in draft fairytale
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