By Marc McGowan
The Age is following prospective AFL draftees Nathaniel Sulzberger, Noah Mraz and Levi Ashcroft throughout the 2024 season for our Draft Dreams series as they bid to join the big time in November.
In March, we met the kid from Tassie, an ex-basketballer now chasing a football career, and a blue-chip prospect with the genes to match.
It has been an eventful week for the trio, with Ashcroft nominating as a father-son prospect for Brisbane; Mraz having a CT scan on the injured foot that ended his season; and Sulzberger heading home to Hobart after a challenging period.
Here is part three of Draft Dreams.
Levi Ashcroft
There was never any doubt, but Levi Ashcroft made it official on Thursday when he confirmed he would join his brother Will at Brisbane to become the Lions’ answer to the Daicoses.
The Ashcroft boys’ father, Marcus, played 318 games for Brisbane, most memorably featuring in the Lions’ 2001-03 flag three-peat.
Levi Ashcroft is already training with the Brisbane Lions.
All that must happen now is for the Lions to match an opposition bid at the AFL draft in November, when Ashcroft will be among the first players picked, as a father-son selection.
The rest of the league were so certain of Ashcroft’s intentions that the recruiting teams for Richmond, North Melbourne and West Coast – who are set to hold the first three picks in this year’s draft – had not even interviewed him.
Will Ashcroft and Nick Daicos were the second and fourth picks, respectively, in their draft years despite being considered the best prospect in their class.
Levi Ashcroft came in at No.2 in The Age’s most recent draft rankings last weekend, and will run out for the Lions’ VFL team against the Giants on Sunday before turning his attention to the Sandringham Dragons’ tilt at three flags in a row.
“We have dreamed of playing together, and he’s my best mate in the whole world,” Ashcroft told this masthead of his brother. “I’d love to be out there on the battlefield with him.”
That dream could be a reality as soon as next year, although Ashcroft knows he has stiff midfield competition against not only Will but the likes of Lachie Neale, Josh Dunkley, Hugh McCluggage and even Cam Rayner.
Jarrod Berry did not attend one centre bounce last weekend against St Kilda, illustrating how deep the club’s on-ball brigade is.
“It’s going to be tough to break into that midfield, but I’m here for the challenge,” Ashcroft said, “and can’t wait to play alongside them, potentially.”
Ashcroft not only is chasing another premiership with Sandringham, but also won the APS flag with Brighton Grammar last week and the national championships with Victoria Metro in mid-July.
There was a strong Dragons presence at Brighton Grammar this year, with Ashcroft joined by Luke Trainor, Harry Oliver, Josh Dolan, Bailey McKenzie, Lenny Hofmann, Sam Linder, Zach Travers and bottom-ager Archie Ludowyke.
“In junior footy, or any footy, the goal is always to win the premiership,” he said.
“You not only want personal success and to play well, yourself – you want team success. I got to play with some of my best mates at high school level, so you try and enjoy it as much as you can.
“It’s getting a bit emotional because you bleed the school, in a way, and I loved playing for Metro, but you won’t get to play with them ever again. It was a bit sad on Monday morning because it was like, ‘Geez, I’m not training or playing with you again’, but these are mates you’ll have for the rest of your life.”
Ashcroft also emphatically put to bed any thoughts he might lose his edge for the rest of the season after making the call on his AFL future.
“I obviously want to keep performing at the level I’m playing at,” he said.
“The year has not finished with Sandy, and there’s the [draft] combine as well. There are still a few things I want to tick off, so there will be no slowing down. It would be cool to win a third premiership with Sandy.”
Nathaniel Sulzberger
There is always more than meets the eye.
The aim of this series is to take our readers behind the scenes of the draft process, to offer an insight into what is involved, including the rollercoaster of emotions and pressure these talent-rich teenagers endure.
Nathaniel Sulzberger hopes to show AFL recruiters his best football in the final months of the season.Credit: Joe Armao
Nathaniel Sulzberger took flight as an AFL prospect once he returned to Hobart from China at the start of 2018, before relocating to Melbourne last year to accept a scholarship with Caulfield Grammar and play for Sandringham Dragons in the Talent League.
This season was about solidifying that status, with the mid-year AFL under-18 championships the ideal platform to do just that.
Sulzberger made an instant splash: amassing 21 disposals, 10 contested possessions, seven inside 50s and four clearances in the Allies’ opener against South Australia.
Real life got in the way after that. Foot soreness prompted Sulzberger to get new orthotics after that South Australia game, but there was a more devastating blow to come, when his grandfather, Michael, lost his long battle with illness.
Sulzberger was able to get back to Tasmania for the funeral.
“It was a pretty tough time for my family,” he said. “He loved footy, was a big Collingwood supporter, and was a big supporter of mine. He had been pretty unwell for a while, for years now, and we all thought he would keep chipping along, but it was probably a good thing for him.”
Sulzberger’s last three championships games did not match his first, and he looks back “a bit disappointed” with his carnival performance. He was also eager not to be seen to be making excuses.
Sulzberger was not among the 65 prospects to score an invitation to test at the national combine, but will attend the state combine in Melbourne.
“I was a little bit flat about [not making the national combine], but it’s probably fair enough because I didn’t have the best champs,” he said.
AFL prospects, including Jordan Croft last year, are put to the test at the annual draft combine.Credit: Getty Images
“There’s nothing I can do about it now. I know I can play good football, so I need to show everyone at the back end of the year.”
Sulzberger, who spoke with Collingwood’s recruiting team last week, is in Hobart this weekend ahead of the stretch run in the season with the Dragons.
He and coach Rob Harding have discussed how he can improve, and concocted a plan for him to play with more freedom and get back to enjoying the game.
“It’s been challenging being part of three programs in the last couple of months – it’s been pretty full-on – so I’m glad I can focus on just the Dragons,” Sulzberger said.
“I’m really looking forward to it. I [want to show] my work-rate, two-way running, burst from stoppages, and my follow-up game, and show that I can play inside, but also outside, and hit the scoreboard a bit as well.”
Noah Mraz
Noah Mraz has never looked forward to a run the way he did on Thursday afternoon.
The Dandenong Stingrays young gun – the No. 30 prospect in The Age’s draft rankings – found out the same day that the stress fracture in the navicular bone in his left foot, which has sidelined him for all bar two games this season, had “fully healed”.
Noah Mraz’s foot stress fracture has healed but he will not play again this season.Credit: Paul Jeffers
Mraz, who resumed squatting in the past month, could be back in full training within three weeks after the positive result from his CT scan, but he and Stingrays staff have already decided he won’t play again in 2024.
“It’s so good – I’m pretty relieved. We were only expecting it to be almost healed, so it’s great news,” he said. “I get to start running again [on an anti-gravity treadmill], and I’ll get as ready as I can for the combine.”
The national draft combine will be held between October 4 and 6, meaning Mraz has almost two months to get himself in the best shape possible, but a decision will be made closer to testing on whether he runs in the two-kilometre time trial.
“The sports doctor said it was very unlikely to happen again, but I haven’t run or jogged for so long [12 weeks], so I need to be cautious with other injuries, like tendons and achilles,” he said.
“I’ll make sure to ease back into it, but it’s killing me already. [The recovery process] has been character-building. I didn’t enjoy it, and it won’t be a positive thing to look back on, but it’s taught me a bit about myself, and taught me how bad I want it.”
Mraz illustrated his commitment to recovering as swiftly and well as possible during his time on the sidelines.
The Endeavour Hills teenager had a blood test to see if he was deficient in any areas, and took vitamin D, calcium and magnesium supplements, as well as spending time in a low intensity pulsed ultrasound machine that helps bones heal quicker.
Mraz’s busy rehabilitation schedule did not dim his disappointment at missing out on playing at the national championships for Victoria Country, but AFL recruiters have put him at ease.
“They don’t give much away on where you’re sitting, but they gave me a bit of reassurance that I will get drafted,” he said.
“I was kind of [concerned I wouldn’t get drafted] after I heard my season was done because I wasn’t too happy with how I played at the start of the year. I was worried I didn’t show enough, so the reassurance helped with the process.
“It’s pretty surreal when they say it to you – it gets you excited. I couldn’t care less what pick I went. It doesn’t matter where you go – it’s how you perform when you get there.”
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