South Adelaide’s Brayden Cook on quirky questions clubs ask, plus how he became a draft bolter

AFL clubs are known for asking odd things during interviews with potential draftees. But one curveball had this South Adelaide draft bolter baffled.

South Adelaide rising star Brayden Cook is said to be SA’s ‘bolter’ ahead of this year's AFL National Draft. Picture: Tom Huntley

Brayden Cook had heard AFL clubs tend to ask weird and wacky questions of the young talent they have their eye on selecting at national drafts.

But the South Adelaide under-18 star was not expecting one club to ask this question.

“I’ve had a few zoom calls with a few clubs and that’s been a whirlwind,” Cook, 18, said.

“They asked me a wide variety of questions.

“But one of the clubs asked if my football club was a village, what role would I play in the village?

“I was a bit baffled by it and I can’t remember what I replied to it.”

Cook is one of this year’s biggest draft bolters after enjoying a standout season with the Panthers in the SANFL under-18 competition.

Panthers youngster Brayden Cook chats about the weirdest question an AFL club asked him during an interview ahead of the national draft. Picture: Tom Huntley

It included an eye-catching performance in round eight against Norwood, in which the wing/half-forward booted four goals and collected 16 disposals.

“I have had a little bit of a niggling shoulder injury throughout the whole year,” Cook said.

“Early on in that game (against Norwood) my shoulder kind of went but I got it re-strapped and went back out there.

“I went full-forward to make sure I wasn’t hitting any oncoming traffic with my shoulder and it ended up being a good game.”

That was a far cry from where the 188cm, 74kg star was a few years ago when being selected by an AFL club seemed more a dream than an achievable reality.

Cook had been dropped from the Panthers’ under-16 team before only managing to play five out of the 18 matches for the club’s under-18s last year.

He then went back to the Southern Football League to line up with Happy Valley’s under-17 side and helped the Vikings claim last year’s premiership.

Determined to improve, Cook worked harder than he ever had during the off-season and grew about 7cm, helping him cement his spot in South’s under-18 side this year.

“I wasn’t expecting anything like this last year but I’m just grateful how this year has turned out,” Cook said.

“I was always out at South in the younger grades but I got dropped for the under-16s.

“They told me I was too short, lacked a bit of physicality and confidence.

“So I went back to playing locally.

“I always wanted to get back out there (to South) but I just had to work for it and I finally got the opportunity.

“This year has been great.

It’s such a good playing group (at South), all the boys are really close and all the coaching staff are really close as well.”

The Reynella High Year 12 student said he was “nervous and excited” ahead of next month’s draft.

“It would mean the world to me to be drafted,” Cook said.

“I’ve loved footy all my life and that’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”

Originally published as South Adelaide’s Brayden Cook on quirky questions clubs ask, plus how he became a draft bolter