The rapid rise of Sandy Dragons dasher Fraser Rosman

A former Dragons coach admits Melbourne drafting Fraser Rosman nearly brought a tear to his eye. Here’s why.

Fraser Rosman at the AFL national draft combine. Pic: Melbourne FC

Josh Bourke had to cut the phone call short.

He knew Fraser Rosman would have other people ringing him, wanting to congratulate him for being selected by Melbourne in the AFL national draft on Wednesday night.

There was another reason he wanted to end the call.

Former Sandringham Dragons coach Bourke was on the verge of “choking up’’.

“That one nearly brought a tear to my eye,’’ he said after Rosman was taken at No 34 by the Demons.

“He gets on the phone and he starts to say thanks and all that. And I’m like, it’s not about us. It’s about reward for him, how he’s matured and where he’s got to as a young man. I could not be any more pleased for him or prouder of him, to be honest.’’

The Dragons had five players drafted and Bourke was thrilled for each of them (at the start of the season the club had only three players in the metro hub).

But Rosman’s call-up made him emotional.

Without going into details, the 18-year-old, an East Malvern junior, has had some testing times with illness to a family member.

The Dragons were chuffed for Fraser Rosman.

He was also “extremely shy’’, Bourke said, an “unsure 17-year-old, and we weren’t sure how he would integrate into the group’’.

“He was a kid who lacked some confidence, and then to see him as a young man in the pre-season (ahead of 2020), partly through some tough times, that impressed us all.

“Huge credit obviously to mum and the family that supported him – and mum in particular, who has done an amazing job with who he is – but also people around him, like (Dragons assistant coach) Nick Moodie, who is one of the better people you will meet in footy.

“I think his influence on Fraser has been very positive. And Scotty (Rosman’s manager Scott Lucas) is another good person at his side. So he’s had to do the work and mature and get his game going, and being surrounded by good people certainly helped him. You can put his school, Wesley College, in that too.’’

In September Bourke had suggested Leader profile Rosman, passing on a number for Lucas.

Lucas said a story on the hopeful might be helpful but he was also wary of raising Rosman’s expectations about getting drafted.

As Dragons talent manager Mark Wheeler saw it, Rosman’s testing at the combine drew attention to his athletic ability. He ran 5:52 in the 2km time trial and 2.896 in the 20m sprint.

Wheeler said the rumours about Rosman and Dragons teammate Max Holmes, who was drafted by Geelong, moving up draft boards “had been building for a few weeks’’.

“I think they both pushed themselves up the order pretty quickly once they were tested,’’ Wheeler said.

He said that although Rosman played only two games for the Dragons in 2019, his school football had been “dynamic’’.

“If you watch some of his vision, he’s got all the skills and components but he hadn’t put it all together with us,’’ he said.

Bourke said Rosman was “raw’’ but exciting.

He called him a “freakish athlete’’.

“He’s got a lot of work to do, and he’d be the first to admit that, with cleaning up his skills and improving his kicking,’’ Bourke said.

“But his raw athleticism is freakish and if he can learn to hit the right spots and get into space he’s going to be a really dangerous player, someone who can break lines and be capable of hitting the scoreboard. He’s got that pace and endurance.’’

Rosman will have Dragons company at Melbourne, after teammate and Highett product Jake Bowey went at pick 21.