AFL Draft 2021: Follow the latest news and whispers in the countdown to the national draft
More than 800 hopefuls have nominated for next week’s national draft, including some delisted AFL players and one big name we thought had retired. Latest draft whispers.
Draft news
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Greater Western Sydney has nominated Shane Mumford for the national draft to keep him eligible for the mid-season draft next year in case of a dramatic ruck emergency.
Mumford has a two-year deal as the club’s ruck and development coach and fully intends to transition into coaching next year.
But if the Giants do suffer ruck injuries despite having three quality rucks on their list, they don’t want to regret not making Mumford eligible for the mid-season draft.
It means there is still a chance his remarkable three-club premiership career could have a postscript.
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Mumford nominated as one of around 800 players who could be taken in the national and rookie drafts.
It officially makes him eligible for next year’s mid-season draft, with Mumford also officially delisted rather than having retired this year.
MORE: SEE THE FULL LIST OF DRAFT NOMINATIONS
The Giants say it would take a ruck disaster for him to be considered because they have Braydon Preuss, Matt Flynn and Kieren Briggs as specialised ruckmen.
But having missed out on Fremantle’s Rory Lobb and losing tall Jeremy Finlayson to the Power in the trade period, it wouldn’t be out of the realms of possibility.
Mumford will remain fit as the club’s ruck coach but is happy to retire permanently after previously “unretiring” himself to play on with the Giants.
Mumford joins recently delisted players including Jack Lonie, Patrick Naish and Trent Dumont in the national draft.
St Kilda has some interest in Naish for a list spot, but the former Tiger is by no means guaranteed of finding a new AFL home.
Dumont has been an excellent inside midfielder but at this stage does not have a suitor after North Melbourne delisted him.
GWS could bid on father-son gun
Collingwood’s star junior Nick Daicos could yet slip to the No.4 overall draft pick, securing the Pies an improved hand at the back of next Wednesday’s national draft.
GWS and Adelaide will in coming days thrash out draft strategies that will see them deciding whether to bid on Daicos and Western Bulldogs father-son prodigy Sam Darcy.
North Melbourne will not bid on either one of those players with the No.1 pick as it calls out the name of SANFL star Jason Horne-Francis, who will quickly become a cult hero at Arden Street.
Rival clubs believe GWS (pick 2) will bid for Sam Darcy given how highly the Giants rate the 205cm versatile tall, with the Dogs then matching that bid to make him the No.2 overall pick.
The Giants are expected to secure 189cm Sandringham Dragons midfielder Finn Callaghan at pick 3 to add his class, speed and endurance, believing he is a different type of onballer to their star crop of inside mids.
But they will first have to make a decision on whether they rub salt into the wound for Collingwood, having secured the Pies’ first-round pick in a trade last year before it became the No.2 overall selection.
They could bid on Daicos to ensure the Pies pay a significant draft price, but rival clubs believe they are open to letting him go through.
GWS will meet early next week to discuss its draft plans for picks 2 and 13 as well as its bidding strategy. The Giants are also big admirers of key back Mac Andrew and Vic Metro midfielder-forward Josh Rachele.
The Giants made clear they were keen on small forwards when they expressed interstate in Chad Wingard and Luke Breust in the trade period, but are still expected to end up with Callaghan.
The Suns’ current No.3 pick might end up at pick 4, and they would bid on Daicos before then securing Dandenong Stingrays tall Andrew.
The Egyptian-born Sudanese 200cm ruckman has outstanding athleticism and a huge upside for the Suns, who are keen to add to their stocks of talls.
If they ended up bidding on Daicos at pick 4, the Pies would only have to hand over 1628 draft points after accepting a 20 per cent discount.
It would mean they might retain another mid-40s draft pick instead of having them all absorbed by a bid as early as pick 2. Their current draft hand is picks 36, 38, 40, 46, 48, 58, 78 and 79.
The difference between being forced to match a bid at pick 1 and pick 4 is 772 draft points, the equivalent of pick 24.
Adelaide has the No.4 pick, set to be pushed back to pick 6, and has been strongly linked to the brilliant Rachele, who has similar traits to star GWS forward Toby Greene.
The Crows are adamant they have many players they are considering at that selection and rivals are only guessing but he would fit in perfectly as a classy mid-forward with a nose for goal.
Gold Coast will toss up between Andrew and Vic County key position defender Josh Gibcus, the most accomplished defender in the draft, but Andrew’s upside will likely see him land at the Suns.
Meanwhile, former St Kilda No.1 pick Paddy McCartin will not nominate for the national draft so will likely have to spend a summer training with Sydney if they are to list him as a supplementary rookie.
Darcy reveals pressure of Bulldogs’ legacy
– Dan Batten
Expected top-five AFL Draft prospect Sam Darcy concedes there is “hanging” pressure over him as he prepares to become a third-generation Bulldog.
Darcy, the son of Western Bulldogs champion Luke, said his father has offered him guidance about managing the pressure of the Darcy name.
But the leading key-position player in this year’s draft is far from overwhelmed by his famous bloodlines.
A Charles Sutton medallist, Luke Darcy enjoyed a decorated career at the Western Bulldogs spanning 226 games, while his father, David, played 133 matches for Footscray.
The Bulldogs are certain to match any bid for the precocious father-son talent — who has been compared to twin key-position stars Max and Ben King — after the club stockpiled picks during the trade period.
Capable of filling either key position post or playing in the ruck like his father, Darcy rocketed up draft boards in June with a six-goal haul against Vic Country in a trial match.
Darcy revealed he has grown two centimetres this year, bringing him to a whopping 205cm – which will make him the equal tallest player at the Bulldogs, alongside ruckman Tim English.
“There’s that hanging pressure but I don’t really think of it like that. I just keep working hard and putting my best foot forward,” Darcy said.
“He’s just been a great support base for me and giving me a lot great advice. He’s just been telling me to be myself.”
Darcy will have a somewhat delayed start to his first pre-season at Whitten Oval as he recovers from a stress fracture in his foot sustained in October.
The Oakleigh Chargers product expects to be back running in the next month.
He was the most high-profile AFL Draft prospect to sit out the main drills at the Victorian draft training day at Sandringham’s Trevor Barker Oval on Monday.
AFL Talent Manager Kevin Sheehan describes Darcy as a special talent with his overhead marking and versatility, coupled with his mobility and skills for a player his size.
“He is like the King boys in my view, in the air. He is very special – the angles he comes from, (he’s) courageous under the ball,” Sheehan said.
“For Bulldogs supporters, you’re getting an absolute beauty, I reckon.
“His make-up is sensational. As you’d expect, coming from the Darcy family.”
Pies father-son gun wants to be top draft pick
By Dan Batten
Collingwood father-son prodigy Nick Daicos has expressed his desire to receive an early bid at the AFL Draft later this month to reward his standout efforts across the junior ranks.
The classy and prolific midfielder-forward dominated whenever he took the field this season — for the Oakleigh Chargers in the NAB League and for Vic Metro at national level — with AFL Talent Manager Kevin Sheehan unable to split Daicos and South Australian Jason Horne-Francis for the No.1 pick.
While Daicos has spoken with North Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney – who hold the first two selections in the draft – he said he had not been given an indication from either club about whether they will bid on him.
He quipped that the radio silence from North Melbourne suggested he hadn’t put his best foot forward in his club interview.
Despite his intent to attract a high bid, Daicos is “excited” to officially be drafted to Collingwood on November 24.
“I’d love to be recognised and go as high as I can and recognise the hard work that I put in. But at the end of the day I’m going to Collingwood and that’s where my intention lies,” Daicos told reporters on Monday.
“I haven’t heard too much from (North Melbourne or GWS). I had an interview with North Melbourne about a month ago and I haven’t heard from them since, so I don’t know if I interviewed too well.
“I’m really excited to be in black and white.”
Father-son bids from rival clubs can be matched at a 20 per cent discount on the draft value index — a bid on Daicos at pick 2 would require to the Magpies to cough up 2013 draft points.
The son of Collingwood great Peter Daicos committed to joining Collingwood in August after considering other clubs, proclaiming he would have been “stupid” not to assess alternative options.
“There was a bit of thought – just had to access the option. I think it would be stupid to only look at Collingwood, I had to look around and see other teams,” Daicos explained.
“Ultimately, I knew that I was going to end up at Collingwood.
Daicos said he had not read into the discussion between him and Horne-Francis, with Sheehan describing both prospects as future stars.
“I think the debate is about those two (for the No.1 pick),” Sheehan said.
“I’m saying they are both 200-game players and maybe more, and they’re going to be future stars of our game.”
The Chargers product has met with incumbent Collingwood coach Craig McCrae, lauding his relationship skills and saying he can’t wait to play under him.
Asked about Liam Jones’ retirement from the game due to a reluctance to be vaccinated against Covid-19, Daicos said he respects players’ decisions either way.
He said the draft crop is “more than happy” to receive the jab in order to achieve their AFL dream.
“It’s been a general consensus that we need to get vaccinated to play footy, and if that’s what it takes, then I think a lot of the boys are more than happy to do it,” he said.
“But if not, then that’s their right not to do it. We don’t read too much into it, I guess it’s personal preference, but I’ve been vaccinated so I’m ready to play.”
The one draft hopeful helped by Covid chaos
—Simeon Thomas-Wilson
Judson Clarke belongs to a very small club.
Despite suffering a serious knee injury in 2019, Covid hitting Victoria meant the Dandenong Stingray speed machine didn’t miss out on games.
“I guess Covid helped me a lot,” Clarke said.
“By the time I had completed 12 months it was in August (2020) and I had six months until I was playing footy again.
“So that break really gave me a really well rested break to get right.
“I was really lucky that I didn’t miss out on any games and didn’t miss out on anything, really.”
Clarke showed he hadn’t missed a beat in June when he kicked five goals and had 22 disposals for Vic Country against Vic Metro.
Dandenong Stingrays coach Nick Cox labelled it as one of the best performances he’d seen in a representative trial match.
“If there’s a game to perform, I definitely chose the right one,” Clarke said.
At just under 180cm, Clarke has been likened to Western Bulldogs young gun Cody Weightman by AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan for his dynamism around goals, his energy, pressure and elite agility and speed.
“I would like to think of myself as one of the quicker ones, and being able to use that to burst away,” Clarke said.
He looms as one of the most exciting small forwards in the draft pool, but he believes he could eventually move into the midfield should he get a chance in the AFL.
Now in Dandenong, Clarke would love that to be with Hawthorn after previously being affiliated with the Hawks academy when he lived out east.
With the Hawks one of the teams Clarke has spoken to, he concedes he has mind has wandered to what he would be like in brown and gold.
“That was unreal (speaking to Hawthorn), I was so excited the day of,” he said.
“I was just over the moon.”
Just being interviewed by clubs was an experience Clarke said he wouldn’t forget, even though some of the questions were slightly unexpected.
“I’ve heard of some different ones such as count backwards using sevens and stuff like that but my hardest were, ‘What’s something we should know about you and something we shouldn’t’,” he said.
“That made me think a little bit.
“I just said something you should know about me is that I’m a pretty loud and energetic guy and pretty outgoing.
“And something you shouldn’t I’m not good with my time, I’m a bit of a procrastinator.”
JUDSON CLARKE
Date of Birth: 17/10/03
Height: 179cm
Weight: 69kg
Clubs: Dandenong Stingrays, Victoria Country, East Ringwood
Attributes: Endurance, speed, pressure, goalkicking
Plays like: Cody Weightman
NAB League 2021:
Games: 5
Disposals: 17.6 avg
Tackles: 3.4 avg
Goals: 0.8 avg
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