Draft Intel: Latest 2023 AFL Draft news from around the country
The Western Bulldogs have secured a father-son nomination and another Victorian rival is hoping to do the same. See where the young guns are at ahead of the father-son deadline.
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The AFL national draft is a touch over five weeks away and a lot is beginning to take shape.
Here’s the latest draft news from around the country, following the national draft combine last weekend.
HEIGHT NO BARRIER FOR WATSON
The shortest player to attend the national draft combine says he lets his “footy to the talking” when questions come up over his height.
Eastern Ranges small forward Nick Watson measured in at 169.5cm at the combine last weekend.
The two shortest players currently on AFL lists are Melbourne forward Kysaiah Pickett and Western Bulldogs utility Caleb Daniel, who are both listed at 171cm.
Watson did not complete physical testing at the combine, as he recovers from an ankle issue that again flared up in the Coates Talent League Grand Final last month.
However, he is a quick and agile pressure forward with freakish goal sense who was the leading goalkicker in the under-18 national championships this year with 14 majors from four games for Vic Metro.
“I just let my footy do the talking,” Watson said.
“I’ve had it all my life, how I’m too small and all that. I just perform every game to my best ability. You can’t really say much because you don’t really know what’s happening behind closed doors (at AFL clubs). But you just let your footy do the talking at the end of the day.
“Watching players like Kosi Pickett – who’s only like 2cm taller than me – dominate the game, it gives me a bit of confidence and it’s just about having that self-belief.”
Watson is believed to be in the sights of the Western Bulldogs after the club traded up the draft order to secure pick 4 from the Gold Coast Suns.
Bulldogs small forward Cody Weightman is another player Watson looks up to, along with Pickett and Greater Western Sydney skipper Toby Greene.
CROFT LOCKED IN, MCCABE NEXT?
The Western Bulldogs secured a father-son nomination this week and Hawthorn will now be looking to do the same with another first-round draft prospect.
The Bulldogs were informed on Wednesday that 200cm key forward Jordan Croft would nominate as a father-son for the club after carefully weighing up his decision over recent months.
South Australian key defender Will McCabe is eligible to nominate as a father-son for the Hawks, where his father Luke played 138 games and is currently serving as the club’s football director.
If he does nominate, McCabe would be expected to attract a bid within the top-25 selections at the national draft, potentially as high as the late teens.
McCabe – who trained at Waverley Park last December – was set to meet with Hawthorn again this week as the father-son nominations deadline fast approaches on October 31.
“There’s still a lot to play out with Will,” Hawthorn list manager Mark McKenzie said on Monday.
“He developed nicely this year as a defender. He’s played forward as well. So depending on where he goes in the future with that development, he has the variety to actually play some different positions.”
McCabe measured 196.5cm at the national draft combine last weekend but did not take part in physical testing as he recovers from an adductor injury.
Melbourne also has access to a father-son this year in midfielder Kynan Brown, who is the son of former Demon Nathan.
ATHLETIC BOLTER’S RAPID RISE
The rise of draft bolter Zane Zakostelsky has been as steep as his vertical leap.
The athletic West Australian tall hadn’t played footy since Auskick when the basketballer returned to the returned to the game in Year 10.
Two years later he appears set to be drafted after a stellar back-half of the year which culminated in a best-on-ground display in the WAFL Colts grand final for Claremont and an eye-catching draft combine.
The 196cm prospect came first in the standing vertical jump, fifth in the agility test, equal fifth in the running vertical jump and sixth in the 20m sprint over the weekend.
That elite athletic make-up and his potential growth has got clubs excited about Zakostelsky, who has improved markedly as the season has gone on, shining in the ruck for Claremont and as a key defender for Western Australia at national level.
Zakostelsky didn’t even have a manager before the national championships, and he is still pinching himself about his whirlwind season.
“It’s unreal, I had a few goals at the start of the year and to think that I’m completing a lot of them and I’m in the position I’m in right now it’s an unreal experience,” Zakostelsky said.
“I’d probably say towards the start of the state campaign, that’s when I started to get approached by managers and sort of sunk in that it was getting sort of real.
“I played a little bit of Auskick when I was really young but sort of just moved into basketball and then had my first full footy season in Year 10 so this would be my third year of playing footy.
“I guess a lot of the basketball attributes, hand-eye coordination, sort of translate to the footy and sort of utilising athleticism and power.”
CLUBS WEIGH UP IRISH TALENT
Four Irish footballers who were brought to Melbourne for the national draft combine have returned home as AFL clubs consider whether to take a punt on them.
Odhran Murdock, James McLaughlin, Eoin McElholm and Conor Corbett flew back to Ireland earlier this week after posting some solid results at the combine.
McElholm finished ninth in the 20m sprint test and also performed well in the agility test, while Corbett posted a strong agility time.
The quartet all completed tryout sessions at Essendon, Richmond, Geelong and Hawthorn in the lead-up to the combine and had interviews with other clubs last weekend.
“They were impressive kids and loved the whole experience,” AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan said.
Capping a busy fortnight, Murdock is set to play for Burren in the GAA Senior Football Championship Final back in Ireland this weekend.
Carlton signed two Irish players — Robert Monahan and Matt Duffy — as international rookies in August, while St Kilda secured Liam O’Connell in the same month.
ACADEMY GUNS JUMP UP
A trio of players linked to three club academies were among those to shine the brightest at the draft combines last weekend.
Gold Coast Suns Academy member Will Graham and West Coast Next Generation Academy member Lance Collard both caught the attention of clubs after posting some stunning results at the national draft combine.
Graham finished equal-second in the vertical jump, equal-third in the running vertical jump and second in the 20m sprint, while also running an impressive time of 6min 26sec in the 2km time trial.
Collard won the agility test and finished fourth in the 20m sprint, along with running a time of 6min 32sec in the 2km time trial.
A 186cm midfielder, Graham sits behind Jed Walter, Ethan Read and Jake Rogers as a fourth academy prospect that the Suns are keen to get their hands on this year.
Collard is a 180cm forward who averaged 11.5 disposals, 7.4 score involvements and 2.9 goals for Subiaco in the WAFL Colts.
Collard finished the season with a bang after a quieter national championships campaign for Western Australia.
Hawthorn Next Generation Academy member Tew Jiath — an athletic defender who is the younger brother of Changkuoth — impressed at the Victorian state draft combine.
Jiath posted particularly good results in the vertical jump and agility tests as well as the 2km time trial.
The Suns can match any bid on Graham, but the Eagles and Hawks will only be able to match bids on Collard and Jiath if they fall after pick 40, which looks highly unlikely for both.
ANOTHER MORRISH LEFT UNDRAFTED?
Draft prospect Angus Hastie said he was left stunned by the omission of Morrish medallist and Geelong Falcons teammate Patrick Hughes from the Vic Country squad.
The strong inside midfielder was left out of the squad due to concerns from club recruiters around his running capacity.
The Torquay product used the snub as motivation to improve this area of his game and produce an eye-catching finish to the season, going on to tie for the league best-and-fairest in the Coates Talent League with potential top-five pick Colby McKercher.
Hughes said in his acceptance speech his omission was a “good spark to get back out there and prove a few people wrong”, going on to average 20 disposals, 12.8 contested possessions, 6.5 clearances and 108 SuperCoach ranking points in his 15 matches.
He received a late call-up to the state combine testing, where he showcased his improved endurance with a 6:56-minute 2km time trial.
Hastie, who has put himself in the second-round mix with a strong season for Vic Country and the Falcons, feels he has been undervalued.
“I think to not make Vic Country was a massive, it wowed me a little bit, I definitely thought he would be in that squad,” Hastie said.
“For him not to make that surprised all of us but I think it did give him a bit of reason to try even harder down at Falcons which he got rewarded for.”
The past five Morrish medallists have missed out on being drafted with Taj Campbell Farrell (2022), Flynn Lakey, Joshua Rentsch (both 2021) and Lucas Rocci (2019) all left on the board.
FULL STEAM AHEAD TO DRAFT
The countdown is on to next month’s national draft after the completion of the national draft combine last weekend.
The Victorian state draft combine was also held last weekend, with further state-based combines set to be held in South Australia and Western Australia this weekend.
Nominations for the draft officially opened on Monday and will close on November 13.
Father-Son bidding nominations and Northern and NGA Academy bidding nominations must be lodged by October 31.
The first round of the national draft will be held on November 20, with the remaining rounds to follow on November 21.
The pre-season and rookie drafts are being held on November 22.
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