AFL draft 2020: Collingwood big winners after controversial trade period
The Magpies were working the phones all night at the AFL draft. Meet the young guns they were so desperate to bring to the black and white.
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Collingwood’s top draft pick Oliver Henry insists he feels no pressure of arriving at the Magpies as the club’s premier selection following a messy trade period.
The Magpies landed the brother of Geelong’s Jack Henry with the selection they received from the Western Bulldogs following Adam Treloar’s exit from the Holden Centre.
Collingwood needed a strong draft to help soothe the anger of its supporter base and it appears to have done so by nailing four picks inside the top 30.
Henry, a creative medium forward from the Geelong Falcons who was nabbed at pick No. 17, said he did not feel there was a weight of expectation hanging over him and his fellow Magpie draftees.
“I don’t think there’s any pressure,” Henry said.
“What number pick you are doesn’t matter now, so I’m just looking to work hard, mix in with the group and hopefully build some friendships and we’ll see where it takes me.”
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Henry said he had learned a lot from his brother and Cats defender, Jack, who he described as a strong influence on his football journey.
“I’ve done some training with Jack and the tips he gives me are something I’ll hold on to forever.
“He said ‘never think you’ve mastered anything in the football game, you can always keep improving’.
“That’s something he’s learned from all the great players he’s played with at Geelong like Gary Ablett and Harry Taylor.
“The advice he gives is priceless and I’m going to go into the Collingwood program with my head down and I’m going to work hard and hopefully do the club proud.”
When asked how he would feel lining up against his brother on the field, Henry said:
“It would be really good.
“We’ll have to speak about it a bit more and have a bit of banter about it, but I’ve watched a lot of Jack’s footy and he’s watched a lot of mine.
“So it’ll be pretty funny to see how that goes.”
Collingwood’s other top 20 pick, Finlay Macrae, is the younger brother of Western Bulldogs premiership player Jack Macrae.
“That would be awesome (to play against him), but I need to take little steps first,” he said.
“I’ll be just trying to get a game first, but it would be pretty cool to hopefully line up against him at some stage.”
Collingwood was thrilled it managed to draft Henry and Macrae before a bid came for academy product Reef McInnes.
It eventually took the speedster at pick No. 23 following a bid by GWS Giants.
“Honestly I wasn’t too sure (if I’d get to Collingwood),” McInnes said.
“I was pretty nervous the whole night, but now I’m just so excited and so grateful for the opportunity to pull on this jumper and be at the club.
“Early in the night Decker (recruiting manager Derek Hine) text me after a few picks saying ‘congrats, you’re at the Pies.’”
HOW THE DRAFT PLAYED OUT
Jon Ralph
Essendon was on Wednesday night daring to believe it had stockpiled the young stars to break a 16-year finals losing streak as the Western Bulldogs assembled one of footy’s most dynamic forward lines.
And Collingwood’s bold trading strategy saw it moving on next year’s first-round pick to reap five early draft picks within 31 selections in a historic online national draft.
Adelaide made the Western Bulldogs match a bid for Jamarra Ugle Hagan with the No. 1 selection in a 2020 national draft conducted online with players, officials and recruiters spread across the country.
As revealed by the Herald Sun in September, Adelaide were happy to use their No. 1 overall draft pick on the 195cm teen compared to Lance Franklin, forcing the Dogs to use 2400 draft points amassed from six later selections.
The Dogs did it in a heartbeat for the best kid in the land, a rangy and athletic key forward from Framlingham, who was linked to the Western Bulldogs through a next generation Academy system to be overhauled next year.
He will team up with Aaron Naughton as early as Round 1, with his NAB League coach Leigh Clarke confident he will effortlessly slot into the club’s best 22.
With the No. 2 overall selection Adelaide took local SANFL star Riley Thilthorpe, a 201cm ruck-forward who will be the heir apparent to former captain Taylor Walker who can also provide centre-square coverage.
North Melbourne caused the first surprise of the national draft by taking Oakleigh Chargers midfielder Will Phillips with the No. 3 selection despite speculation he might fall as far as pick six.
Essendon’s trio of selections saw recruiter Adrian Dodoro select the key position players for the next era as well as X factor midfielder-forward Archie Perkins.
Northern Knights key position swingman Cox wowed with his kicking, speed and fourth-best time trial at the AFL’s draft and was described by Fox Footy’s David King as a “200cm Leon Cameron” given he kicks so well on both feet.
He was taken at pick eight, with Perkins taken with the next selection after a day in which he had admitted he had told clubs he was not prepared to move interstate.
Rounding out that trio at pick 10 was Gippsland Power 202cm key position defender Zach Reid, meaning the Dons have cover for Joe Daniher as well as replacements when Cale Hooker and Michael Hurley retire.
Collingwood was thrilled to secure medium-forward Ollie Henry (pick 17) and Jackson Macrae’s brother Finlay Macrae (with the No. 19 pick they secured for Adam Treloar) before matching a bid for NGA midfielder Reef McInnes.
By trading away their first-round pick next year in a season where they will take father-son Nick Daicos they ended up securing five picks within 31 that included 192cm SANFL mid-forward Caleb Poulter (pick 30) and 197cm Northern Knights key forward Liam McMahon (pick 31).
Sydney were thrilled to secure 196cm key position forward Logan McDonald with the No. 4 selection then match a Hawks bid for NGA midfielder Braeden Campbell.
An emotional Ugle-Hagan said: “It means a lot. It means a lot with the emotion in the whole room. It’s an unreal experience.”
Said No. 2 pick Thilthorpe: “I have supported the Crows for as long as I can remember and it means the world to me. Adelaide didn’t give much away. It’s a pretty big surprise,” Thilthorpe said.
Ugle-Hagan’s premiership NAB League coach Leigh Clarke believes he will be in the Dogs side in Round 1 next year given his athleticism and sheer pace.
He will unite with the Dogs’ star-in-the-making Aaron Naughton in the attacking 50, with few clubs boasting such a dynamic pair of marketable and talented stars.
But while he has never missed a trick on the football field he admitted he had to borrow a pair of pants from Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli to attend a Connors Sports draft function Wednesday night.
“I woke up this morning and I didn’t have any jeans because I took it all home to Warrnambool and then ran up “Bont” and he said I have got some jeans, come on over,” he said.
“We had a training session the other day to get away from everything. I stayed with him when he was announced captain and he’s always there, someone to look up to and be a sponge from.”
Originally published as AFL draft 2020: Collingwood big winners after controversial trade period
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