AFL Draft: Sydney Swans have their sights on top teens Braeden Campbell and Denver Grainger-Barras
Sydney could be one of the big winners of the draft by landing two teenagers who are regarded top 10 prospects.
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The Sydney Swans are set to walk away with two of the country’s top 10 teenagers from Wednesday night’s AFL National Draft.
Highly rated Sydney academy member Braeden Campbell is certain to end up a Swan despite a number of rival AFL clubs believed to be circling the talented midfielder.
The teenager burst onto the scene with three goals in a best afield performance in the Under-17s NAB All Stars ‘Futures’ clash in the grand final curtain-raiser at the MCG last year.
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The Swans will match any early pick for Campbell, and AFL national talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan said he was at the pointy end in this year’s draft crop.
“I think’s he inside the top 10,” Sheehan said.
“He’s a jet really.
“He’s quick, left-footed and a magnificent kick while also being a very good kick on his right side too.
“Speed and elite kicking are his weapons.
“You’d expect a bid for him to come inside the top 10.”
Campbell will be packaged up with the Swans’ No.3 selection, which will become pick No.4 with Adelaide expected to bid on expected top pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
With their first pick, the Swans are tipped to nab highly rated West Australian big man Denver Grainger-Barras.
Grainger-Barras is considered the best key defender in this year’s draft and it’s believed the Swans have had their eye on him for some time.
“He’s had an outstanding year at senior level (in the WAFL),” Kevin Sheahan said.
“He’s an intercept marker, a bit like Jeremy McGovern if you’d like.
“Just reads it fantastically early and looks to be the best of the tall defenders.”
The draft bonanza is set to reinvigorate coach John Longmire’s list after a disappointing 2020 campaign in which his side finished 16th.
Errol Gulding is another Swans academy member Sydney may pounce on, with a bid for him expected to come in the 20’s.
“He’s a running machine and just keeps collecting the footy,” Sheehan said.
“I liken him to a Andrew Gaff from West Coast.”
The GWS Giants also have a strong hand in this year’s draft, with the loss of forward Jeremy Cameron helping them to four picks inside the top 20.
GWS are said to be keen on key position big man Nik Cox, who stands at 200cm and can play at both ends of the field.
The Giants also have access to academy member Josh Green, the younger brother of midfielder Tom.
SON OF A GUN’S EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY
- Glenn McFarlane
The quest of draft hopeful Tom Graham – the son of former Hawk and Tiger Mark – to chase his AFL dream has taken him halfway around the country this year in an effort to attract the interest of clubs ahead of Wednesday’s national draft.
In a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic made talent identification harder than ever before, given there were no state league or elite under-18 games in Victoria, the 197cm one-time youth basketball star always knew he would be up against it.
But instead of given up on his dream, the resourceful key-position player packed his bags and headed to South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Even if he misses selection on Wednesday night – in a draft where clubs will use fewer picks than normal due to the financial constraints brought on by the pandemic – the 20-year-old former Oakleigh Chargers forward won’t stop trying to get the attention of AFL talent scouts.
His manager Alex McDonald said Graham had always been keen to take his game on the road as part of his football education when footy in Victoria was banned.
“Tom is symbolic of the challenges for development players (in 2020),” McDonald said. “You can’t really look at traditional pathways.”
“COVID has taught everyone to get more creative and to be more open minded about the opportunities that are out there.
“Sometimes you have to go out and find those opportunities. Tom has tried to do that by going to play with Central Districts (in SA) and Waratahs (in the NT).”
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While Tom hasn’t yet had the interaction with AFL clubs he had hoped for, he is determined not to give up, even though club lists and the salary cap have been trimmed back next year.
Graham’s father Mark played 223 games for Hawthorn from 1993 to 2004 before playing another 20 games in one season at Richmond in 2005.
Tom was a young basketball star in his early teenage years but knocked back US scholarship offers as his desire to play AFL football grew deeper.
He played for Oakleigh Chargers in 2019 but missed out on being drafted last year and had planned to play with Box Hill Hawks this year before the pandemic halted the VFL season.
Graham has enlisted some of his father‘s close friends and contacts to assist in his development pathway.
He has worked on his kicking with Barry Mitchell – father of Hawthorn‘s Tom – while former Hawk Gary Buckenara has provided plenty of advice along the way.
Brownlow Medallist John Platten organised Graham’s move to Central Districts, where he learnt plenty in what was his first season of open age football.
Graham had read Nathan Buckley‘s book, where the Magpie great said all players should aim to play a season in Darwin, and that’s what led him to Waratahs after the SANFL season finished.
Tom is desperate for a chance, but even if it doesn’t happen this year, he won’t give up on the dream, given the development he made this year.
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