Sam Weideman heads the list of potential AFL recruits from Eastern Ranges in today’s draft

IT’S D-day for Eastern Ranges’ AFL hopefuls Sam Weideman, Ryan Clarke, Blake Hardwick, James Parsons and Liam Jeffs.

Sam Weideman, AFL draft hopeful at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.

EASTERN Ranges hopes to be celebrating five AFL draftees today.

No one in the club could have predicted the ups and downs of 2015.

Top prospect Sam Weideman was sidelined for most of it by injury. Ryan Clarke shot up the rankings to the point where he could go at pick 21.

Skipper Liam Jeffs made the opposite journey as injuries wrecked his campaign.

Blake Hardwick demonstrated his ability to kick bagfuls of goals and James Parsons is another with reason to be confident of joining the game’s elite.

In the midst of all this, Ranges made a TAC Cup grand final where 11 of its 22 were either 16-year-olds or bottom-age players.

The new bidding process and the consensus that this is a weaker-than-average year for talent only add to the uncertainty.

Ranges talent manager Len Villani says the sense of doubt also carries opportunity.

“It’s probably a good draft to be in because the top-end talent starts to drop off after the first round, or even the first 10 picks,” he said.

“So it’s a bit of a lottery. It’s going to be one where the recruiters earn their money because there’s a few gems in there.

“I’m confident we’ll get four, possibly five,” he said. “If we end up with five, that will be a good year for us.”

Here, we profile the Eastern hopefuls.

SAM WEIDEMAN

The 196cm key forward is likely to go in the top 10, a fact that underlines his gifts when one considers he has played little football these past two seasons.

Most phantom drafts predict that he will join Melbourne.

Sam Weideman (left) in action for Eastern Ranges. Picture: Kylie Else

The unclear nature of the draft means there could be a surprise in store but Ranges are emphatic that whoever takes the grandson of Collingwood legend Murray will have a star on its hands.

Villani says anyone put off by the underwhelming beep test Weideman ran last week is guilty of seeing the trees but missing the forest.

“You watch the kid play and there’s testing results, but there’s game IQ as well,” he said.

“He just doesn’t take his eye off the footy, he just wants to competitive. Some big guys spend four or five years at AFL clubs and at the end of it they go out the other end and they still don’t get that.

“Sam has that white-line fever and yet he’ll come off and be your next club captain. He’s really articulate. And that level of intelligence translates to being able to get the most out of your ability.”

Best of all, Weideman’s ankle problems are behind him and Villani says they were the result of growing pains rather than being a problem that is likely to pop up again.

That means he will be ready to start working on his aerobic capacity now.

“He’s ready to go,” Villani said. “He’s got no restrictions on him whatsoever. He can hit the ground running Wednesday morning.”

RYAN CLARKE

The gut-running ball magnet was probably Ranges’ best player in finals. Most analysts predict that those attributes will lead him to North Melbourne and Villani does not disagree.

“If he’s available at that pick (21) I think they’ll pull the trigger on him,” he said.

“He’s outstanding. At the start of the year he probably wasn’t part of the conversation. He’s worked his backside off and just has that ability to get from contest to contest.”

Clarke scarcely dipped below 20 disposals this season and put 40-touch games back to back. The next arrow he must add to his quiver is more consistently excellent kicking.

“It’s the little bit of polish with his kicking,” Villani said. “The upside in other areas more than makes up for that and I think as he’s got more confident throughout the year that’s become less of an issue.”

Clarke’s rapid rise is down to a serious work ethic.

“He really thrives on that hard work and he’s got a maturity beyond his years,” Villani said.

“I reckon most guys don’t understand what hard work looks like until their early 20s. He’s got that in spades and drives others along with him.”

BLAKE HARDWICK

Hardwick’s 56 TAC Cup goals left him 20 ahead of the next highest goalscorer and included bags of 12 and 10.

That is the result of his excellent marking and set-shot ability and Ranges expect him to be drafted around pick 30 or soon after.

Villani said Hardwick has a hard-to-define special something beyond his obvious attributes.

“He’s a rare talent with a natural feel for the game,” Villani said.

Blake Hardwick celebrates one of his 56 TAC Cup goals this season. Picture: Kylie Else

“I was just watching him the other night, having a run around with the 18s boys to keep himself ticking over.

“He just understands it, manipulates it, and he’s got some tricks that make him a pleasure to watch. It’s deeper than (his marking ability), it’s his feel for the game, for the little idiosyncracies. His ability to manipulate the footy.

“He’s too special (to not be drafted).”

JAMES PARSONS

Parsons is less of a sure thing that Ranges’ top three prospects but they still expect him to be taken around pick 40.

An outside mid or half-forward, his accurate kicking and ability to play off both sides of his body make for enticing raw material for an AFL club to work with.

“What he does well he does exceptionally, it’s just getting that consistency,” Villani said.

“He’s really good in traffic. He’ll do two or three things a game that will make you sit back and go ‘wow’.”

James Parsons is expected to be picked up late in tomorrow’s draft. Picture: Valeriu Campan

A small stress fracture in his foot led to Parsons missing almost two months near the end of the season but Ranges reckon he had done enough prior to that to make the grade.

“It’s just that ability to go four quarters, and his workrate at times (that he needs to improve). “But at the other end of the spectrum, he was sensational at half-back for us in the last few rounds before he got injured.“

LIAM JEFFS

Ranges hope the worst-case scenario for Jeffs will be a rookie draft selection but say he has the mental and physical attributes to reward any club that snaps him up today.

He is 193cm and teams that stature with excellent pace and athleticism. His results at the draft combine included a 20-metre sprint time of 2.89 and he also placed among the top five in the running vertical jump.

He is also well-respected enough by his teammates to have been voted skipper for 2015 - all of which makes it more frustrating that his campaign was wrecked by injury.

“You could almost write off his 18-year-old year, he was just injured and it was very hard,” Villani said.

Liam Jeffs allies outstanding athletic and leadership qualities. Picture: Valeriu Campan

“On his bottom age year, his AFL academy stuff, someone could get a steal at the back end of the draft because he might be there around pick 50.”

Villani said that Jeffs has recovered from his afflictions, which included a broken leg that hampered him when he did return to action.

“To ask him to come back in August and try to play against kids coming out the back end of Vic metro and nationals and compete was a big ask.

“I think it got to him a bit and with the captaincy as well... we asked a fair bit of him and maybe it was too much.”

Villani says Jeffs is a player of few words but that that obscures a fine personality.

“He takes a while to get to know, and once you get to know him he’s an outstanding character.

“When we had the captaincy vote, he won 90 per cent of the vote. Hands down a clear pick of the boys. There’s different ways to lead. Some people are boisterous and some people earn respect through actions.”

ANTHONY BROLIC

Brolic is a late developer with a background in cricket who made a phenomenal impact in TAC Cup this season.

He was in Ranges’ best 10 times and his natural ability makes him an outside bet in the rookie draft on Friday, according to Villani.

“He’s a smokey,” the talent manager said. “You just can’tignore some blokes that are just quality footballers. Sam Mitchell’s probably a good example of that.

“He knows he’s got to work on his body. It would have made a difference (if we got him earlier) and I wish we did but he was off with his cricket. He’s probably our best chance (for an unexpected draftee).”