AFL draft 2018: Oakleigh Chargers midfielder Riley Collier-Dawkins shaping as first-round pick
OAKLEIGH Chargers midfielder Riley Collier-Dawkins has flourished at Warrawee Park in 2018, moving into first-round calculations in November’s draft.
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RILEY Collier-Dawkins started the TAC Cup season with possibility and potential.
He will likely finish it as a flourishing footballer on an upward trajectory.
A modest Collier-Dawkins began his campaign hoping to feature for Vic Metro at the under-18 national championships and aspiring to be drafted.
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Internally he was rated as one of Oakleigh Chargers’ top prospects for 2018 — he has grown 7cm and put on 8kg in the past six months to shoot up to 193cm and 88kg.
His size has drawn comparisons to Western Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli, while his contested game is modelled on Sydney captain Josh Kennedy.
The explosive midfielder has elevated himself to be a first-round fancy in November’s AFL draft, but the Waverley Blues product pays little attention to the commentary.
“I try and take it in my stride but I think I am my own harshest critic, people can say things, pump up my tyres, so to speak, but at the end of the day I am the harshest critic and I really just focus on what I think about how I can improve,” Collier-Dawkins said.
“I’m always trying to better my game and add as many tools to my arsenal as I can.
“Never being satisfied is a good thing, even though sometimes it can be a bit straining on the mind, it just continually makes me better and just gives me a lot of motivation.”
Collier-Dawkins played his junior football at Waverley and was a member of the under-17 premiership under the watch of former Test cricketer Bryce McGain.
“Body contact never bothered him, he was always hard as anything, if there was a ball to be won he was the first in to go and win that ball,” McGain said.
“He would train on his own, he would do extra running, he’s just done it all and he probably deserves the position he is in.
“He’s done particularly well the past couple of years and he has put in a lot of hard work.”
The 18-year-old averaged 12 disposals across his three games for Vic Metro after an eye-catching start to the season at Warrawee Park.
Talent manager Craig Notman said Collier-Dawkins was working on his disposal numbers — he has registered 25 touches in a TAC Cup game just twice this year from 12 matches.
“We probably want to see him win a touch more of it,” Notman said.
“It’s just making sure he probably adds a little bit to his possession rate, spreads harder at times from stoppage (because) he does a lot of his work inside and relies on that in a stat sense.”
While Collier-Dawkins played down his ambitions at the start of the season, Notman said Oakleigh always had high hopes for the Salesian College student.
“The kid is quite a modest kid, I think even from the (under) 16s we were able to pinpoint a kid that had a fair bit of potential,” he said.
“We were pretty strong in the fact we thought he was a good, high prospect with his tools and type of character.”
After starting the season with the potential of being drafted, Collier-Dawkins now has it set as his goal.
“At the end of last year it was more optimism but I think this year I have realised it is a possibility, just from meeting with (AFL) clubs to playing in the championships,” he said.
“I’ve just tried to continually set goals for myself and not be satisfied and just keep thriving, keep hungry and aspiring to achieve things.”
The AFL national draft starts on Thursday, November 22 and will be completed the following day.
The rookie draft is on Friday, November 23.
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