Northern Knights midfielder Brayden Fiorini following a path blazed by Western Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli as he eyes this year’s AFL drafts

BRAYDEN Fiorini is following in the footsteps of former Northern Knight Marcus Bontempelli as he looks to achieve his dream of being drafted to an AFL club.

TAC Cup football: Northern Knights V Oakleigh Chargers. Action shots of both teams. Knights no 8 Brayden Fiorini. Picture: Kylie Else

IT WAS a major setback.

Brayden Fiorini — who had always dreamt of playing AFL football — found himself cut from the final Northern Knights’ Under-15 squad before the 2012 season.

He had produced some solid years of junior football with Greensborough and Research and made Northern Football League representative sides multiple times. He thought he was on track to achieve his ultimate dream.

But when the omission from the initial Knights’ squad came, the realisation set in that there was still plenty of work to do.

“I was pretty shattered after that, but from then onwards I just tried my hardest and stuck at it,” Fiorini said.

“Since I was young, I’ve always wanted that (to play AFL football).”

Fiorini made the Northern Knights’ Under-16 squad in 2013, and has not looked back, his rapid development putting him in the frame for this year’s AFL drafts.

A high possession winner, Fiorini played every game as a bottom-age player for the TAC Cup club’s Under-18 side last year but has blossomed in a new role this season.

Having spent much of 2014 and the early rounds this year on a wing, the Knights’ vice-captain was thrust by his coaches into an on-ball role for the final quarter of their Round 7 match against North Ballarat.

Fiorini broke a toe on his favoured left foot in that match, but battled on to win six clearances for the term and prove he is more than capable of winning his own contested ball, which had previously been a knock on the 17-year-old.

That performance and another strong showing the following week led to comparisons to former Northern Knights’ teammate Marcus Bontempelli, who similarly went from a wing to an on-ball role two years ago and elevated himself to a top-10 draft pick.

“We played him (Fiorini) in the midfield in the last quarter against North Ballarat when we were getting smashed and he was a bit of a revelation there, getting the ball out of the centre,” Knights talent manager Peter Kennedy said.

“We did a similar thing with Bontempelli two years ago, taking him off a wing and putting him into the midfield and he just blossomed.”

But Fiorini’s emergence has not been without some setbacks this year.

In the Knights’ second practice match, he suffered an achillies strain which resulted in him missing the TAC Cup fitness testing day and he spent two weeks on the sidelines with a cracked bone in his hand suffered last month.

But there have been some highs as well, most notably being added to the Vic Metro squad after Round 2.

Fiorini played in Metro’s trial match against Vic Country and flew to Perth to take on Western Australia with the team on the weekend.

Fiorini hopes he can keep his spot in the Vic Metro squad for the final two matches of the AFL Under-18 National Championships before helping the Knights pick up wins later in the season.

But for now, the teenager is not looking too far ahead.

“You’ve just got to take it week by week. It’s a long season,” Fiorini said.