The Western Bulldogs secured the best ruckman in the AFL draft when they selected Tim English

THE Western Bulldogs couldn’t believe their luck when Tim English slipped through to their first pick in the draft.

LUKE Beveridge just doesn’t rate ruckmen. Or, to more specific, the premiership coach believes unless they do more than tap the ball they aren’t helping his side.

So it tells you plenty about the remarkable skill-set of 205cm ruckman Tim English that he is now wearing the colours of the premiership side.

In truth a player rated by the Dogs as the draft’s seventh-best player was such a bargain at pick 19 that they had to take him.

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But a player who racks up possessions at will and runs a 10min 55sec 3km time-trial time is nothing like your old fashioned ruck dinosaur.

The South Fremantle 19-year-old was clearly the best ruckman in the draft and said as soon as he put on 8-10kg, he would try to make his way in the game.

Tim English was drafted by the Western Bulldogs.

“I am skinny at the moment but I want to get into the gym and work my way up from there.”

Bulldogs recruiter Simon Dalrymples sniffed the wind at the start of the month and decided to get on a plane to WA’s Pingelly, home of the English sheep and cattle farm.

“It was probably one where we thought we were a chance given the history of the draft (with ruck sliders) so we went to the family farm and said, ‘We are a chance here’,” Dalrymple said.

“Bevo has got some strong views on ruckmen. It was a good fit for the way we play and he joins in on offence. He is young and has to put on weight, but as shown by his numbers, he just loves getting the ball.

“It was great to meet mum and dad and you can see by dad’s frame, he is a strong man and mum is a schoolteacher. With Will (Minson) retiring ruck was a bit of a gap, but we weren’t going to make one up and the purchase price had to be right.”

The Dogs also added Northern Knights mid-forward Patrick Lepinski, a former basketballer coached by Marcus Bontempelli’s uncle.

Tim English on his family farm in Perth.

English can’t quite believe he has landed at the premiers, having studied their most recent glories more than once.

“I am obviously really stoked with that, they are coming off a really successful season this year,’’ English said.

“I watched the Grand Final with a heap of friends and there was quite a bit going on and I had heard and knew about how great it was and I thought I would watch it all again.

“Obviously it’s a huge things (playing under Luke Beveridge), everyone talks about how respected he is and now he has a premiership under his belt.”