AFL Draft 2024: Tobie Travaglia hoping to emulate Will Day, opens up on U18 Champs heartbreak
Tobie Travaglia won a B&F ahead of Harley Reid last year, but was brought crashing to earth after missing the AFL’s academy squad. He reveals how it drove him to becoming a first-round prospect.
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After he beat Harley Reid to take out the Bendigo Pioneers best-and-fairest last year, Tobie Travaglia was pumped for what he thought was shaping as a big top-age season.
“He (Reid) only played six games … but I wasn’t really expecting it the back end of last year,” he said.
“It’s pretty cool to beat probably one of the best players to ever play the game.”
Less than two months later – days before Reid joined West Coast as the No. 1 draft pick – the 2024 AFL Academy squad was announced and some air quickly came out of Travaglia’s tyres when he couldn’t find his name on the list.
“I’m so grateful for missing out on that, looking back,” Travaglia said.
“It’s a big reason why I’m in the position I am at the minute, I feel.
“I identified what my weaknesses were through a few people, through feedback, and went to work. I thought I had done enough, but it was a negative which I turned into a positive.”
Pioneers coach Danny O’Bree saw the fire in the belly of his talented halfback, who is as fierce a competitor as anyone in this year’s draft class.
“He was pretty determined after that,” O’Bree said.
“He thought he missed his opportunity but he really got to work day one of pre-season. He was incredible with his preparation and that served him really well throughout this year.”
Travaglia clearly didn’t miss the AFL Academy squad by much.
After early-season injuries hit a number of other top draft prospects, Academy coach Tarkyn Lockyer came calling ahead of two exhibition matches against VFL outfits Coburg and Footscray.
“I got a call up on the Thursday of the first game,” Travaglia said.
“Then the second game was pretty funny. I was in class about to go into a maths SAC and I got like four missed calls from Tarkyn. I was like, ‘I probably need to take this’. That was a Friday and we played on Saturday morning, so I had to go straight to Melbourne.”
It was the start of a season to remember, which has propelled Travaglia into first-round draft calculations.
SELWOOD’S SUPPORT
Travaglia went on to captain Vic Country at the under-18 national championships mid-year and performed wonderfully.
He was named on a halfback flank in the under-18 All-Australian Team.
“He can play tall, he can play smaller and he’s got lightning speed which is really impressive,” Vic Country coach Paul Corrigan said after the tournament.
“I think he’s got all the attributes to go to the next level and be a good player.”
There was one moment in the final stages of the last game against Vic Metro that Travaglia would have liked back, though.
In the title decider between the two Victorian teams, he gave away a free kick and 50m penalty which resulted in Luke Trainor kicking the winning goal for Vic Metro with seconds remaining.
“It’s something that you wish you had your time again,” Travaglia said.
“But it is what it is. You sort of think about it a few days, but the Vic Country boys were a great support. I had so many people reaching out to me as well.”
One of those who reached out was former Geelong captain Joel Selwood, himself a former Bendigo Pioneers product who also played junior football for Sandhurst.
The advice from Selwood was, ‘Don’t worry’.
“I feel like the main reason why I didn’t dwell on it that much was because of the people around helping me and supporting me,” Travaglia said.
“I’m very grateful for those people.”
ANOTHER DAY
By the end of the national championships, recruiters were comparing Travaglia to Hawthorn young gun Will Day.
It was music to Travaglia’s ears, given he has looked to model his game on the ace halfback-turned-midfielder.
“I look at how he went through the ranks and the draft,” Travaglia said.
“He’s someone I’m probably quite similar to.”
Having signed with player manager Tom McConville – who also manages Day – Travaglia had the opportunity to meet Day for coffee twice this year.
“I was pretty fortunate with that,” Travaglia said.
“The one big thing he said was to enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, there’s no point doing it.
But I definitely enjoy it and he obviously enjoys it as well.”
Like Day, Travaglia has traits which could see him move from halfback to the midfield in time.
He spent some time in the midfield with the Pioneers this year and even went forward late in the season.
“(O’Bree) said ‘We’ll try something different’ and I said ‘Absolutely, I’d love to do that’,” Travaglia said of the move.
“I played midfield and then went deep forward and loved that experience.
“I love being across halfback. You are always in the game. But I feel like I’d love to, in three or four years, be a midfielder. A little Will Day-esque.”
‘TOBIE’S TEEPEE’
Ask Travaglia what his strengths are on the football field and he will list a few.
“Probably my running capabilities, my dash, my drive, my competitiveness, my intercept marking and my versatility,” he said.
The running power was put on show during the national draft combine, with Travaglia finishing second in the 2km time trial with a time of 6 min 13sec.
If there was a test for competitiveness, he would also be on the podium.
The Carlton supporter’s competitive juices are constantly flowing – not just on game day but also on the training track.
Travaglia’s mum, Jolene, is a primary school teacher in Bendigo and has a tipi in the corner of her classroom.
“For kids that get flustered there’s a little tipi to sit in for two or three minutes,” Travaglia said.
“It’s like the naughty corner.”
Pioneers coach O’Bree threatened to put up his own tipi at training this year.
“There was maybe one stage in pre-season where he got overly competitive,” O’Bree said.
“We joked about having a tipi at the Pioneers which he might have had to go into to have a little rest for a bit. Tobie’s tipi.”
The threats would give Travaglia a laugh and remind him to cool down just a touch.
However, there’s not much wrong with having a strong competitive steak.
In fact, many recruiters love such players and pick holes in those who don’t show enough desire to beat their opponent or win their own ball.
It is one reason why Travaglia now shapes as a top-15 draft prospect, who has been linked to clubs including Richmond, West Coast and Fremantle.
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