AFL Draft 2023: The Gippsland Power player who are in contention

Gippsland Power had a successful first night at the draft with two picked. We look at the club’s prospects heading into day two.

The Gippsland Power had a successful first night at the AFL draft and will be looking to add a couple more when it continues tonight (Tuesday).

As expected, Power forward Zane Duursma was selected early, going to North Melbourne with the fourth pick in the draft after the Kangaroos bidded on Gold Coast academy player Jed Walters, who went to the Suns at pick 3.

Duursma now joins a plethora of midfielders/forwards at the Kangaroos but Fox Footy draft analyst Michael Ablett says the teenager could play a valuable role at the club.

“He hits the scoreboard consistently and when I watch him it’s poetry in motion, he’s just a really balanced smooth moving type player,” he said.

“I see a little bit of Mark LeCras in him.”

Duursma will have someone familiar join him at the Kangaroos after fellow Power player Wil Dawson was picked by North Melbourne at pick 22.

He and Duursma were two of five players selected by the Kangaroos on draft night.

Gippsland Power still have a couple of players in contention to be selected on the second day of the draft, which continues tonight (Tuesday).

To see who is contention read further down.

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Gippsland Power is confident it can be the powerhouse country Coates Talent League club at the AFL draft for the second year running.

All the talk from the Power has been about Zane Duursma, the younger brother of Essendon’s Xavier.

He could join Bailey Humphrey, who went to Gold Coast with pick six last year, as the top Power pick in consecutive years.

But coach Rhett McLennan has high hopes the team can match its haul from last year with five players drafted.

McLennan added alongside Duursma he expects Tew Jiath, Wil Dawson and Archer Reid to be among those selected early.

“There’s possibly for four of those (players to be drafted in the top 30),” McLennan said.

Duursma is expected to go inside the first few picks to either North Melbourne or Hawthorn with picks two, three or four.

The Power coach said Duursma had the potential to be just as good as the expected top two picks, Harley Reid and Jed Walters.

“He’s always been a really skilful player,” McLennan said.

“This year he’s worked more on sides of the game that relate to being competitive for longer periods.

“He’s always had a fantastic highlight reel and has been able to do a lot of things other players can’t.

“His ability to win the contested ball and be better defensively has definitely improved, which in turn has given him more opportunities from an offensive point of view.

“It came to fruition in the second half of the year where he was probably the best player in the country given that Harley Reid and Jed Walter didn’t play much.

“Zane really got a chance to create his own hype and moment just through the sheer ability he’s got and the work ethic he grew to have as the season went on.”

Tew Jiath is a player who has attracted a lot of interest. Photo by Kelly Defina/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Duursma could be one of three younger brothers of AFL players picked with Tew and Archer the younger brothers of Changkuoth (Hawthorn) and Zach (Essendon).

Tew could the story of draft night with his meteoric rise this season in defence attracting the attention of recruiters.

“He’s never been in our program or really done a lot of high level talent path football until this year,” McLennan said.

“He wasn’t in our side at all until midway through the year and his development has been really steep.

“We can see he has got great athletic potential, very similar to what CJ (Changkuoth) has.

“It was just about how he learned his role and how he could showcase his athletic ability as well as his ability to read the ball.

“Once he was able to establish that at local level and at training we basically set him loose.

“What was exciting was as the season went on and the standard of games got harder, Tew’s football got better.

“That has what put himself in front of the recruiters.”

Gippsland Power’s Archer Reid could be a top-30 pick this year. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The Power’s other two top-30 chances, Dawson and Reid, are both players with lots of talent but need time to develop.

For Reid he’s been on the improve after a tough start to the year.

“Archer had a fantastic bottom age year and he played a couple of games that really thrust him into what looked like top-10 potential,” McLennan said.

“He just had a couple of injury issues at the start of the year and had a disjointed start.

“The back end of his nationals campaign in the middle of the year and then going onto Talent League football with us later in the year stamped what he could do.”

McLennan is confident there will be a team who has his sights on him early.

“He’s good in the air, good on the ground and he’s 203cm and his ruck craft improved no end,” he said.

“He’s an exciting prospect that I don’t think will go too far down the draft.

“I would say there will be a club who will get itchy feet before then (pick 30) when they see him available because he’s got such good potential to be a match winner at AFL level once his body begins to develop.”

Wil Dawson is one of the youngest players in the draft. Photo by Graham Denholm/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

For Dawson he will be one of the youngest in the draft but his talent, at 200cm, has come through this year.

“He came into the side this year and didn’t put a foot wrong,” McLennan said.

“He played some really good games in the ruck at the start of the year and then played an exceptional game as a tall forward in the Vic Country trials and then when we needed someone to be a key defender he came into his own in the back half of the nationals and at the end of the year.

“His ability to intercept mark and be aggressive the way he plays on tall forwards is something clubs are keen on developing.”

The final Power player who could be picked is Lachlan Smith.

The ruckman is ready made for the AFL, according to McLennan, but the coach admitted it would take a club in need for a player of his type for him to be picked.

“He’s a 202cm ruck who is as strong as an ox and super competitive,” he said.

“If someone has him on the list and they have a ruckman go down he is someone who can fill a void.

“It will be interesting to see how he plays out and whether an AFL club can see it is a good idea to have someone on his list.”