Collingwood kids: The inside story on the new Pies replacing Adam Treloar, Jaidyn Stephenson
The flip side of Collingwood’s star exodus was an elite hand at the draft. Here’s how the Pies’ kids are tracking and who to target in KFC SuperCoach.
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Collingwood went all in on a bunch of talented kids when it turfed Jaidyn Stephenson, Adam Treloar and Tom Phillips in a salary cap purge last year, snaring three consecutive picks in the late teens of the national draft.
Collingwood forwards coach Hayden Skipworth, elevated from a development coach last year, runs the line through the Pies’ batch of emerging young kids.
OLLIE HENRY
Pick 17, an agile mid-sized forward
KFC SuperCoach price: $135,300 FWD
“He is a jack in the box. He has good speed, good spring, he can play high, he can play deep. He is a real X factor player for us in front of the ball.
“Some of the stuff he has done in training has been amazing, he sits on a guy’s head or breaks into space or gets the ball over the back. He can do a bit of everything.
“If he can play deeper at times different guys can play higher up the ground. He will predominantly play forward this year, I would imagine. He has scope to push up onto a wing, but we are really happy with the way he has applied himself with his discipline to role and structure. The recruiters were rapt that he got through to that pick.”
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REEF McINNES
Pick 18, combined the fastest sprint time with the slowest time-trial mark but has huge upside as a dangerous midfielder.
KFC SuperCoach price: $117,300 MID
“He has a finger tendon injury, so he is focusing on the things he can do. Part of that is building his tank. He has had (Irish full-back) Mark Keane to train with, who did his finger the week before. Both of them have the same injury so they have trained well together.
“He is going to be a really good player. He was training with the mids before he got hurt and there were glimpses of what all the excitement was about. We won’t rush him but we were really happy with how he was tracking.
“He runs good patterns in transition, he knows where to go and his stoppage stuff was improving, so he’s been working really hard with (development coach) Scott Selwood.”
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FINN MACRAE
Pick 19, another quality midfielder in the mould of his brother Jack, a Western Bulldogs star.
KFC SuperCoach price: $126,300 FWD/MID
“He has been going really well. He is impressive in transition. He works really hard up and back and has good skills on both sides.
“He has played mainly midfield with a little bit of high half-forward in the pre-season and he was unlucky to miss last week in the scratch match in Geelong and then against Richmond.
“If we had a third practice game, he would have been in that mix.
“He has been tracking really well, so if he keeps progressing the way he is you can see he could make an early debut.”
CALEB POULTER
Pick 30, a 192cm onballer who opens up games with his excellent disposal but can also play inside.
KFC SuperCoach price: $117,300 MID/FWD
“He is a left-footed rangy medium-sized midfielder whose ball use is also good. He is tracking really well.
“We think he can play half-back or wing. He has great ball use which will help our offence but he’s still learning our structures. He moved interstate (from SA) but he’s settled in well and on track.”
ISAAC CHUGG
Pick 28, rookie draft, one of only a handful of Tasmanians selected is a hard-running outside midfielder with good speed. The Tigers were also keen on him before the Pies pounced.
KFC SuperCoach price: $102,400 DEF/FWD
“Isaac has had a few little niggles of late which cost him the Geelong game and Richmond game, but he has competitiveness and good closing speed and his defensive actions are really good so he has been pushing his name forward. We are rapt with his progress.”
JOSH DAICOS
Pick 57 (father-son), 2016 draft, on his way to stardom having become a full-blown midfielder in the past 12 months
KFC SuperCoach price: $442,200 MID
“Daics is the same as Isaac Quaynor, he really had a breakout year last season on the wing.
“He will be spending some time as an inside mid and forward, so he has probably got three roles he can go through to have an impact.
“With his skill level and craft and even his stuff around goals, he just gets shots away and finishes well, so he’s really important for us. One of those guys who if we can get a lot of ball in his hands he is so creative and dynamic.
“He will be one of those guys who alongside Jordan De goey will get more game time in there (centre square) now (with Adam Treloar gone). Jordy is going to spend more time in there than he has previously. He used to play centre bounce and then drift forward. But he will be playing more as a mainstay mid who goes forward, so they will take up some of those minutes.”
WILL KELLY
Pick 29 (father-son), 2018 draft, broke his collarbone on Friday night after a strong summer but could be a future star as a Pies father-son.
KFC SuperCoach price: $135,400 FWD
“He just works hard. He competes well and we are working on him reading cues and reading the patterns as a key-position forward.
“He is finding more ball as he is learning the craft and his cue reading has gone through the roof. He will be a really good player for us in years to come.”
TREY RUSCOE
Pick 55, 2019 national draft, arrived at the club as a tall defender but instead kicked 5.4 from four games in his debut season.
KFC SuperCoach price: $206,800 FWD
“We started Trey in the backline last year and then with his footy traits we pushed him forward because he just had a natural instinct around goal. He has some really good timing on his leading patterns.
“He has trained there all pre-season and kicked two goals against Geelong. He can play tall or small and we are really happy with how he’s tracking.
“He has played back and even spent a bit of time on the wing, so he’s played on all three lines, but we are looking to settle him down as a forward.”
JAY RANTALL
Pick 40, 2019 national draft after switching to football from basketball.
FC SuperCoach price: $123,900 MID
“Jay is going well. He is a big endurance beast. He mainly played midfield last year and he didn’t debut but in the practice games we played with other clubs he did really well.
“He is one of the hardest working guys at his game. He is working on his body and skill work and has played a little bit of forward along with the midfield and has even spent some time out on the wings to be a real transition-running winger.
“So he has got three spots to play in and he is working hard on them. He is working so hard on his game, so hopefully he gets his opportunity this year.
ISAAC QUAYNOR
Pick 13, 2019 draft, the Oakleigh NGA small defender has played 15 games in his first two seasons as a rebounding backman.
KFC SuperCoach price: $405,300 DEF
“Isaac really came on last year and he definitely cemented himself in the back six.
“He has done much of the same things this pre-season but he has also added intercept marking to his game, which we didn’t see last year.
“He is a great defensive player who can lock down on his man, but he also has run and carry. So having worked really hard, hopefully he can be a genuine intercept-marking player as well.”
CALLUM BROWN
Pick 35 (father-son), 2016 draft. The son of club legend Gavin Brown has played 49 games in four seasons.
KFC SuperCoach price: $349,600 FWD
“Cal has probably spent most of his time as a forward but this year he has trained a bit more with the midfielders, similar to Jordan De Goey and Jamie Elliott. He will get a bit more midfield time than in previous years.
“He is going well, he is dynamic and has speed around the contest and he can put good pressure on. So with the low rotations in games this year there are guys who will tend to tire and the game will open up. I can really see him getting through the contest and out of the contest with his speed and agility.”
TYLER BROWN
Pick 50 (father-son), 2017 draft, played all of his nine games with the Pies last year.
KFC SuperCoach price: $311,000 MID
“He is spending more time on a wing this year than in previous years. So he’s been doing a little bit of the inside stuff with the mids, but also playing on the wing with a real diligence about playing that role.
“He sets up well for us. He has put on size and strength, he has really filled out, that has been his focus over the off-season so he can be in the contest when he’s around the stoppage.
“We are hoping for a big year from him, him and Cal have put in a mountain of work over the summer.”
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