AFL Draft 2024: 12 Geelong Falcons picked for Vic Country trial games including three mid-season draft prospects

There will be a strong representation of Geelong Falcons prospects trialling for a Vic Country spot. And three of those have attracted mid-season draft interest.

Will McLachlan (right) is among the Geelong Falcons taking part in trial matches. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Three mid-season draft hopefuls headline the 12 Geelong Falcons prospects picked to trial for Vic Country spots this Sunday.

Among those is mid-season draft bolter Will McLachlan, a powerful 181 centimetre forward who has dominated in the past fortnight with hauls of 5.2 and 6.2 in his last two matches.

The Colac product has attracted interest from AFL clubs after his hot start to the season, having also finished last year’s Coates Talent League finals series strongly with nine goals in his final three games.

The Falcons had just two players in the initial summer squad – Bell Park duo Zac McInnes and Xavier Ivisic – but a further 10 have been picked to face off against Vic Metro across two matches that will help shape Vic Country’s eventual squad for the national championships in June.

The Geelong region has eight representatives selected for last year’s Victorian trial games in a sign that recruiters are taking notice of a host of Falcons prospects who have started their campaign with three-straight wins.

Fellow overage players Liam Kershaw and ruckman Joe Pike, who tested at last year’s state draft combine, have also been selected to trial.

Pike has registered more than 140 SuperCoach ranking points in all three of his matches to start the season and has benefited from a pre-season with Geelong VFL, shaving 30 seconds off his 2km time trial time.

Kershaw impressed in the Falcons win over GWV Rebels at GMHBA Stadium in round two in particular, recording 23 disposals, 11 intercepts and five intercepts mark.

Geelong Falcons talent lead Jesse Drever has been impressed by the trio and said McLachlan is putting forward a strong case to recruiters.

Joe Pike runs the 20-metre sprint test at the draft combine last year. Picture: Martin Keep/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

“They can only come back and play (as over-agers) if there is flagged interest from AFL clubs. Certainly in the case of the three of them, all of them have received invitations to trial with Vic Country this week,” Drevor said.

“All three have had really good starts to the year and Will, especially the last couple of weeks, has been really eye-catching.

“He is absolutely doing everything he can to put himself on the radar.”

Drever pointed to McLachlan’s nine senior games for Colac in the Geelong Football Netball League as evidence he might not take as long to develop as other draftees if a club were to take him in the mid-season intake.

“I think he is just a really hard match-up. He is really good in the air and if he goes one-on-one in a marking contest he is really dangerous, but also at ground level. Even if he doesn’t mark the footy he is really creative around goals, great left foot finish,” Drever said.

“He has got a body that can translate I think to (AFL) level. While he might look relatively slightly framed, he is quite strong in the contest and he has certainly developed well over the past couple of years.”

McLachlan is one of three Colac prospects invited to trial along with Falcons co-captain Brady Hall and AFL academy bottom-ager Ben Rongdit.

Newtown & Chillwell under-18 premiership players River Stevens, the son of North Melbourne legend Anthony, Noah Tullio and Edan Ibbetson are among the list as well as Grovedale product Cooper Leach, who has surged into Vic Country selections after not being part of the initial Falcons list.

After training with the Tigers’ senior group under new coach Jacob Spolding this pre-season, the Falcons were encouraged to give him a chance.

“We got a recommendation from Grovedale that he’d been training with the senior group and, ‘why don’t we have a look at him’,” Drever said.

“Then we invited him to a training session and within a couple of weeks he is making his debut and really contributing. He is another one that Vic Country potentially have eyes on him, so for someone that was off our list to get to that point already is really exciting for Cooper and us as a program.”

Originally published as AFL Draft 2024: 12 Geelong Falcons picked for Vic Country trial games including three mid-season draft prospects