AFL Draft: Geelong pluck Brunswick NOBS forward Francis Evans out of VAFA
Many Geelong fans were left scratching their heads when the Cats called Francis Evans at pick 41 of the AFL draft. With only two games in the NAB League in 2019, Tim Michell finds out what the Cats have on their hands.
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An AFL player was born in five rounds of amateur football.
Geelong’s national recruiting boss Stephen Wells made the trek to Melbourne on a mission to watch medium-sized forward Francis Evans playing in the fifth tier of the VAFA and was suitably impressed.
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Evans was one of the shocks of Thursday’s national draft picks when he was taken at pick 41 by the Cats.
Wells said the mercurial talent, who kicked 21 goals in five senior games for Brunswick NOBS in the Victorian Amateur Football Association, had left a lasting impression on the Cats.
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“I went to a game when Francis was playing senior football at North Old Boys earlier in the year,” Wells said.
“Soon after that he was recruited into the Calder Cannons as part of their program and he kicked five goals in one and a half games for the Cannons before he got a bit injured.
“I guess if we hadn’t seen him playing senior football earlier in the year it might have been hard for us to pick him. But we did.”
Evans finished third in Brunswick NOBS best-and-fairest from five games, an indication of his dominance in the early rounds of 2019.
“Certainly a smokie, but they have got a good kid on their hands, I know that,” Brunswick NOBS president Jarryd Browne said.
“He’s a really late bloomer who always had skill playing juniors at our footy club. But he’s grown late and gained a bit of confidence from that.
“He played senior football at 16 last year and then played the first five games of the year for us.
“He was leading the goalkicking, got the VAFA Rising Star and we had a couple of recruiters come down and watch him live.”
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Evans booted five goals and averaged 83 ranking points in two matches for Calder, further enhancing his draft claims and securing an invite to the AFL draft state combine.
“He’s good either side, he can go right or left,” Browne said.
“He’s got a lot more time than a lot of people do on the ground. Time seems to stand still got him a bit.
“He learned the forward craft playing small but he’s not probably six (foot) one and can play a little bit taller.”
Originally published as AFL Draft: Geelong pluck Brunswick NOBS forward Francis Evans out of VAFA