AFL mid-season draft 2022: All the latest news, Jai Culley likely No. 1 pick
Charcoal chicken employee one day, AFL midfielder the next. Jai Culley is poised to make a name for himself in the mid-season draft, with a move west looming large.
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On Tuesday night Langwarrin 19-year-old Jai Culley will finish his shift at Charcoal Chicken aware his life is about to change forever.
On Wednesday night West Coast is intent on selecting the powerful 192cm goalkicking midfielder with the No. 1 overall selection in the mid-season draft.
As revealed by the Herald Sun on Monday, West Coast have circled his name as their leading prospect and believe he could make an immediate impact in their midfield.
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Just don’t expect the dreadlocked Dandenong Stingrays onballer to reel off coach Adam Simpson’s list of accolades as a North Melbourne premiership player.
As he told the Herald Sun on Tuesday in between a break with his morning shift at Coles supermarket before his night chicken shop shift, he had to be told about Simpson’s CV by his Dandenong coach Nick Cox.
“Coxy told me that I was having a meeting with Simmo and did I know his name? I did but I didn’t know anything about him, I didn’t even know he played for North Melbourne,” he said.
Simpson and the West Coast recruiting team spoke with Culley on Monday night and made no promises but everything lines up with him being an Eagle by Wednesday night.
Culley has no intention of cutting off his dreadlocks any time soon: “I think they are sticking around. They are part of me. I am a relaxed person off the field and I think they suit my personality.”
But if they scream that Culley might be a different individual, recruiters know his hard work and dedication has turned him from an also-ran in last year’s draft into a player likely to make an impact this season.
As Cox said on Tuesday: “He is completely different with his on field stuff. He is a head-down bum-up player. He has improved out of sight from the first year in our program last year. He had AFL traits but he wasn’t quite there. We only had him for a couple of nights a week and he went away and worked by himself,” he said.
“He is a 193cm goalkicking mid who can go forward and hit the scoreboard with his marking. He mainly played forward last year because his transition stuff wasn’t good enough so he went away and worked on it. He has got better at a lot of things. He is a ball of muscle. He has put weight on but he’s lean.”
Culley is training smarter and harder — he was so desperate to get fit he was running twice a day — and listened to the Dandenong Stingrays strength team about building up his body.
He has no issue with moving across the country to a club battling in every way if West Coast do select him.
“Last night they didn’t give me too much, they didn’t say they were going to pick me. But if I did get my name read out I would be stoked to be on an AFL list. I am more than happy to travel interstate. I like change. My mum and dad won’t be there but they know it’s my dream, it’s my journey to be on and they are really good with supporting me in whatever I do.”
Jai Culley has worked so hard on improving at a footballer it includes his mum Sally would give him 100 ground balls in the backyard every night in pre season.
— Tim Gossage 🤓 (@TimGossage) May 30, 2022
He will become a @WestCoastEagles player tomorrow and his Stingrays coach Nick Cox says he is a star on and off field.
Eagles spoke to Jai Culley again yesterday, expecting him to now go at pick one. And Roos very keen on intercept defender Kallan Dawson at pick two. Dawson was playing B grade amateurs last year https://t.co/9oJxZLIV0U
— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) May 30, 2022
BLUES POISED TO MISS OUT ON MSD’S BEST DEFENDER
Jacob Weitering’s six-week absence will force Carlton to consider a former North Melbourne first-round draft pick in Wednesday’s mid-season draft and fast-track Caleb Marchbank’s knee recovery.
Weitering met with surgeons on Monday and will have AC joint surgery in the coming days.
He will miss a minimum of six weeks.
The Blues are now without their best forward (Harry McKay), best ruckman (Marc Pittonet), their best defender, intercepting tall Mitch McGovern and dashing half back Zac Williams with long-term injuries.
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Oscar McDonald is also out for the season with a back stress fracture and retired forward Liam Jones is not eligible for the mid-season draft because the AFL still has a vaccine mandate.
There are a trio of tall options in Wednesday night’s mid-season draft including Williamstown’s apprentice electrician Kallan Dawson, who was playing B Grade amateurs as recently as last year.
But he will likely be off the draft board by Carlton’s selection given many clubs believe West Coast will take 193cm Dandenong Stingrays midfielder Jai Culley at pick one and the Roos will take Dawson at pick two.
Carlton is in a strong position to secure former North Melbourne defender Sam Durdin, who has played excellent football as a strong-bodied mature defender for Glenelg this year.
Rival clubs have mixed views on Durdin’s capacity to step up to AFL level again but say he has an elite tank given his time in the system playing 22 games in four years, the most recent in 2020.
Carlton’s Caleb Marchbank would perfectly slot into the backline as an intercept defender but missed last weekend’s VFL with a knee injury.
It was the opposite knee to the one he has been rehabbing after an ACL tear but after the VFL and AFL bye he will take his spot in the VFL again.
He will need time to build form and match fitness but clearly shapes as a key part of the backline if he can play his first game since round 16, 2019.
Ex-Brisbane ruck-forward Connor Ballenden is also a mid-season draft contender and can swing into defence at a pinch.
Flanker Tom Williamson had 25 possessions in the Carlton VFL win on the weekend and No. 17 draft Brodie Kemp had 19 possessions and has played AFL football as a third defender.
Carlton coach Michael Voss says the Blues are still strongly placed to withstand their injury crisis after turning at the bye with an 8-3 win-loss record.
“We think it will be more on the major end than on the minor end. He will go see a surgeon early this week and decide whether he has surgery. If it ventures into that space we are probably talking more a longer term. Five or six weeks,” Voss said.
“There are some challenges within that. I’ve spoken to the group that you get thrown spanners. Every team does throughout the season and you get challenged at different times. Through those periods of time, which is what we’ve done, we’ve been able to find a way. That’s what the challenge is ahead of us.
Mid-season draft dream alive for intercept gun
Mid-season prospect Kallan Dawson could be playing AFL senior football at an AFL club by next week after good news following a weekend injury.
The Williamstown apprentice electrician has come from the clouds as an intercept defender this year and is expected to be taken in the first handful of picks on Wednesday given his huge upside.
The 21-year-old was on a crutch on the weekend but Williamstown coaching director Jeff Andrews said on Monday his injury was only a rolled ankle rather than a serious foot injury.
Richmond VFL player Massimo D’Ambrosio on Monday received a reasonably positive prognosis on his own shoulder injury after his spectacular season as a running defender.
D’Ambrosio told the Herald Sun on Monday he had torn a muscle in his shoulder in Richmond’s VFL game against Sydney but would not require surgery and at most would miss six weeks.
Clubs want him as a long-term prospect, so they will not be dissuaded by his short-term injury.
“The good news is I don’t need surgery, so the physio is pretty confident I will be back soon,” D’Ambrosio said.
“It was a bit heartbreaking (on Friday). I went to punch the ball and someone collected my arm and it went the wrong way, but I have spoken to a couple of recruiters and they have kept me in a positive frame of mind.”
FULL LIST: EVERY NOMINEE FOR THE MID-SEASON DRAFT
Intercept defender Dawson would be the perfect type of player for Carlton following the injury to Jacob Weitering, but he is unlikely to last until the Blues’ selection in the mid-teens.
The Blues could also consider Glenelg’s Sam Durdin, a former North Melbourne defender, or ex-Brisbane ruck-forward Connor Ballenden, who can swing into defence.
Andrews said Dawson was a legitimate defensive prospect for an AFL club.
“We have had every club ring multiple times about him. He has gone from total obscurity to a virtual certainty,” Andrews said.
“He is having his scans this afternoon but it’s only a rolled ankle at this stage. I watched the vision back and he landed on someone’s foot and rolled his ankle, so we don’t think it’s anything too serious
“He could well be playing AFL footy in two weeks. He hasn’t been in the AFL pathway, he played Williamstown juniors then at a local club Williamstown CYMS in the Amateurs and then played a few games for us in 2019. He kept hanging around and had a shoulder reconstruction last year then in round 2 he got his chance and he’s been a shooting star in terms of his improvement.
“He is a genuine intercept defender who reads the cues well and he has elite speed and he’s good at ground level. He is 194cm but he can play tall or small and he is nice and hard, so it’s a nice mix. A few clubs that have later picks don’t expect him to be there by their selection.”
Recruiters going gaga over Western Jet Massimo D’Ambrosio who has been spectacular in the NAB League, Young Guns team and Richmond VFL side this year. Because of play like this. Scans on his injured shoulder drop tomorrow ahead of the mid season draft https://t.co/saqbpgk8hypic.twitter.com/G5Z5Ticl2G
— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) May 29, 2022
The AFL expects clubs to have about 16-18 live picks at the Wednesday night mid-season draft.
West Coast has the No. 1 draft pick followed by North Melbourne and Essendon, but last year North Melbourne chose young ruckman Jacob Edwards as a long-term prospect rather than a quick fix.
Clubs including Essendon, GWS, Sydney, Hawthorn and Geelong seem especially keen on D’Ambrossio but most of the clubs who have a live pick have spoken to the 178cm dasher.
The 18-year-old has dominated at all levels this year including four NAB League games, a Young Guns clash against Vic Metro and his Richmond VFL appearances.
D’Ambrosio’s manager Jamie Pi said on Sunday D’Ambrosio’s upside meant even if the injury was serious, clubs could see his long-term worth on an AFL list.
“He had scans up in Sydney so the results are due (on Monday). We don’t think it’s as bad as it looked. Clubs aren’t looking at picking him up to play in the next two or three weeks, he’s a quality player with a lot of upside so we are still very optimistic he will get picked up. Most clubs are still looking at him as a longer-term prospect,” he said.
“He is a flying halfback with a prolific left foot. He doesn’t mind taking a chance with his kicks and he nails most of them. He fits the modern game and with his lower centre of gravity he’s like a cat when he’s at ground level.”
“Clubs are comparing him to Caleb Daniel, but he’s a bit taller. All we can say is we are optimistic but we won’t know until his name is read out.”
AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan said clubs would have as many as 16 or 18 live picks with many to make decisions in coming days on putting players on long-term injury lists to clear more list spots.
“At one stage it looked like there might be only six or eight picks. Last year it was all about ruckmen but clubs are keeping their cards really close to their chest.
“(D’Ambrosio) has done fantastically well and it’s a reminder to every kid who has overlooked that you brush yourself off and prove everyone wrong.
“He has good pace and he’s a very smart ball winner and good user. He has thickened up a bit in the body over the last year and he’s stronger. He just oozes self-confidence and he’s in good form and has had some continuity compared to last year.”
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