AFL Draft: Talent manager Kevin Sheehan looks back on four bolters who came from the clouds

Late bolters are part and parcel of the AFL Draft. National talent manager Kevin Sheehan looks back at the stars who rocketed up the board at the end of their draft year.

We all love a draft bolter, but this year looks to be bereft of them due to the lack of under-19s football in Victoria.

As the draft approaches, AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan looks back at the stars who rocketed up the board late in their draft year.

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Nat Fyfe has turned out to become one of the greats of the league. Picture: Getty Images

FOUR PLAYERS WHO CAME FROM THE CLOUDS LATE IN THEIR FINAL DRAFT YEAR

Nathan Fyfe, pick 20 in the 2019 national draft

“Fyfe was under-developed physically but had good traits so recruiters were following him. Then in the middle of the year he kicked four goals against Vic Metro and then in the WA Colts Grand Final he kicked six goals. We should have read more into it given he got all the way to pick 20 but he didn’t have the frame, he was about 70kg at the time. You were looking at a skinny kid in the middle of the year and you weren’t sure about his development but he showed something in those two performances late in big games.”

Clayton Oliver, pick 4 in the 2015 national draft

“Clayton Oliver had 23 possessions in a national championships trial match and he still didn’t get selected in the squad. There were some issues, he didn’t get picked and then he just dominated the back half of that year. It was pretty obvious by the end of the year the penny had dropped. Through the year he changed his habits and got fair dinkum and he just flew home.”

Marcus Bontempelli, pick 4 in the 2013 national draft

“Marcus Bontempelli played in the national championships but he wasn’t an All Australian and although he had been in the academy he hadn’t dominated at Under 17s level. Then he went out and had 50 in a school game for Marcellin and kicked 10 goals. It was an amazing breakout game and the next week he came out and stood on blokes’ shoulders, and didn’t kick 10 but he kept on doing special things. At the Northern Knights in the last five games he just took off. His confidence had grown and he realised he could do it and recruiters realised he could be a really special player.”

Daniel Rioli developed late but has flourished once drafted. Picture: Getty Images

Daniel Rioli, pick 15 in the 2015 national draft

“Daniel couldn’t get a game in the NAB League (until Round 7) and was up at Ballarat struggling. He played a very good game for NT at Marvel Stadium in the national championships and just took off from there. He won the athlete of the national combine and just had it all - speed and agility. He has a brilliant second half of the year and like some of the indigenous boys was a late developer. It’s the beauty of it. Some guys are up and about in their 16th years, some wait until late in their 18th year.”

Why two flag threats can land the next Bont

The only excuse not in a recruiting manager’s kit bag is that they just didn’t do the work on an emerging prospect.

This year in a national draft full of mystery and intrigue almost every Victorian prospect has an asterisk after their name given the lack of game time on the big stage.

History is littered with young players who roared up the draft chart after a big national championships mid-year that made them believe they belonged.

For every Steele Sidebottom, who capped a brilliant junior career with 10 TAC Cup goals in the 2008 Grand Final, there is a bolter like Marcus Bontempelli who stampeded into the top 10 with a late-season surge.

As AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan said yesterday, so many of these NAB League players have played less than a dozen games in the past two years.

Pre-Covid clubs might have seen those players as many as 40-50 times in their final 24 months of junior football.

As well as interviewed them in person multiple times and spoken to every single person of note in their background.

Could the next Marcus Bontempelli be found late in the draft? Picture: Wayne Ludbey

So this year the lack of exposure means clubs like Richmond and Geelong, both with five picks within 34, could legitimately hope to find the next Bontempelli who just didn’t get a chance to prove it in his draft year.

Then there are the intriguing players like 194cm Calder Cannon key position forward Sam Paea, who kicked bags of four and five goals in Rounds 9 and 11 and played only one more game for the season.

St Kilda-linked Sandringham Dragon Mitch Owens played only two NAB League games after Round 4 but they were a 109-ranking point 24 possession performance and a 25-possession, 127-ranking point showing.

Would they have been the start of a withering run that would have cemented his place in the top 20 or just a flash in the pan?

Recruiters will have to make that judgement for themselves, according to Sheehan.

“There are guys who you might like and think could be in the top 20 or 30 because their last few games were so good and then the season stops and you can’t put a complete line through him. Where does he sit? You started to get a feeling he was elite and then the season is over.

Sam Paea has shown glimpses of greatness before his season was shut down. Picture: Michael Klein

Josh Sinn has only played 6 games in 30 months. Picture: Getty Images

So we will end up with terrific kids who have probably shown a glimpse somewhere. Does it get them drafted or did they miss their moment?

“I heard Josh Sinn say he has played six games in 30 months. He has been injured so most guys have played 10 or 12 this year, but maybe none last year.

“Paea’s two best games were in his last handful and then the year stopped. Guys normally spring out of the national championships with confidence, but not this year.”

Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale says there is risk but also opportunity in the national draft this year as the Tigers take in picks 7, 15, 26, 27, 28.

“We traded out our first-rounder lats year to Geelong thinking we will know more about the kids in 2021 and it didn’t work out the way we expected.

“There is some risk in that and there are some players in the draft at all clubs you would like to know more about, but it’s really exciting. It gives you options but you still have to call out the right names.

“So our recruiting guys have proven they can make really good informed picks and it’s been a while since we have had a top 10 pick but we have got full confidence we will put our picks to good use.”