AFL draft 2022: Latest news and analysis from national and state combine
While Will Ashcroft officially nominated Brisbane in August, Alwyn Davey Jnr is yet to do the same with Essendon. The talent sheds light on the timeline.
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Essendon father-son prospect Alwyn Davey Jnr will meet his management in coming weeks as he weighs up whether to officially nominate as a father-son for the Bombers.
While potential No.1 draft pick Will Ashcroft officially nominated a father-son to Brisbane in early August, Davey is yet to do the same.
A lightning-quick forward or midfielder, the Oakleigh Chargers product played all four games of the under 18 national championships with Vic Metro and featured in one VFL game for Essendon late in the season.
Davey, who is being managed by Hemisphere Management Group, is the son of former Essendon forward Alwyn Davey, who played 100 games for the club between 2007 and 2013.
“It really depends on how my managers feel,” Davey said when asked about nominating as a father-son.
“It’s really up to them because they have more of a sense around it than me.
“We haven’t really planned it (a meeting) yet, but it will be coming in a few weeks’ time.”
Davey has had multiple interviews with the Bombers and has trained as part of the club’s James Hird Academy this year.
The 18-year-old said it had been a lifelong dream to follow in the footsteps of his father and play for Essendon if it does pan out that way.
“I’d be proud but my dad would be very proud as well to see me go from watching from the change rooms growing up to playing for the same club as he did,” Davey said.
“I just can’t wait for that if it does actually happen and we pull it off.”
Davey, who is boarding at Xavier College, said he had received plenty of sound advice from his father during his draft year.
“He’s called me a lot of times, but I’d say the best advice is to just use my strengths and reminding me that I’m quicker than most of these players,” Davey said.
“Him just reassuring me of my abilities is the best advice he’s given me.”
Davey’s twin brother Jayden is also a father-son prospect for Essendon but has not played football in 2022 after going down with an ACL injury during pre-season.
AFL’s 11th-hour memo to support First Nations players
The AFL has “strongly recommended” that its clubs have their indigenous player development manager present during interviews at this week’s draft combine to support “cultural safety”.
In what appears to be a proactive response on the back of the damning Hawthorn racism allegations, the league sent a memo to clubs on the eve of the combine on Thursday morning reminding them of their responsibilities to “provide a psychologically and culturally safe environment” for the young people they interview.
The memo, which has been seen by News Corp, said that having Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander representation on the interview panels would “support the cultural safety for all involved in the interview”.
All AFL clubs have an Indigenous player development manager, with the league announcing last year that it had mandated the position.
The AFL has offered to provide an indigenous representative for players if clubs are unable to make their own staff available and has vowed to help players in other ways during the combine.
DRAFT DOSSIER: PROFILES, LATEST INTEL ON 110 TOP PROSPECTS
“The group of First Nations players will be represented and supported by the AFL staff throughout the event,” the memo said.
Those league staff include NT Talent Football Pathways Mentor Michael McLean, AFL Social and Emotional Wellbeing Lead Nioka Tyson, Indigenous Talent Programs Manager Narelle Long and National Diversity Talent Manager Pauly Vandenberg.
There have been 68 players invited to this year’s national draft combine, which is being held in Melbourne from Friday to Sunday.
A further 71 players have been invited to state-based draft combines over the next fortnight.
Some of the top Indigenous talent in this year’s draft pool includes Essendon father-son prospects Alwyn Davey Jnr and Jayden Davey, Bombers Next Generation Academy (NGA) member Anthony Munkara, Adelaide NGA member Isaac Keeler, Hawthorn NGA member Cooper Vickery and Gold Coast Suns NGA member Lloyd Johnston.
News Corp last week reported stories from a former mentor to state league Indigenous players, who was shocked by some of the questions he received from AFL clubs and player managers about players he worked with.
“Leading up to the draft, I was continuously asked if he (one player) had a white girlfriend because that would suit AFL clubs, that he had a white girlfriend,” the unnamed mentor said.
“They would ask if it was a broken family, they asked if his Indigenous family members were caught up in jail, they asked if his white girlfriend would be moving over because they felt him having a white girlfriend that they’d be better off in the AFL system.
“One young Indigenous player was told that he wouldn’t be able to bring his young family over because he would have to concentrate on football if they selected him.”
There were 81 male players in the AFL this year who have indigenous backgrounds and a further 20 AFLW players.
What recruiters really look for at draft combine
Being a good AFL footballer is about more than just how high you can jump and how fast you can run.
In 2014, Marvin Baynham smashed the AFL draft combine record for the standing vertical jump as he leapt 88cm in the air.
That did not mean the American – who grew up playing basketball and American football – ever got drafted.
While the results of the five athletic tests at the draft combine – the standing vertical jump, running vertical jump, 20m sprint, agility and 2km time trial – attract a lot of the external attention, they form only a small part of what is a “three-day job interview”.
Eagle-eyed recruiters from every AFL club will watch the draft prospects’ every move during the athletic tests, from how they interact with fellow draftees to the energy they bring to the group.
How focused they are and how hard they physically and mentally push themselves will also be forensically analysed.
That athletic testing will be completed at Melbourne Park this Sunday, following two days of medical screening, club interviews and psychological testing at Marvel Stadium on Friday and Saturday.
“We always describe it as, ‘The last 15 per cent’,” AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan said.
“The reason why you win the ball is you’ve either got speed and agility or you’ve got a big tank. Or you might have a great leap, which allows you to play on taller opponents.
“But the make-up of players can also be judged through the interviews to a fair degree. Clubs are looking at whether players are a future leader, are someone who will leave no stone unturned to build a career or are a resilient type of character.
“The way you play the game is the guts of it, but this is the finetuning.”
There have been 68 players invited to this week’s national draft combine, which sees every Australian state and territory represented.
Of the 23 players selected in the Under-18 All-Australian team following the national championships, 21 are set to attend the national combine as clubs continue to shuffle their draft boards ahead of selection time next month.
“This is where coaches come into it as well,” Sheehan said.
“If a club is considering three players, the coach might have a stronger preference for one of the three if they get through to their pick. So they often have an input.”
A further 71 players have been invited to state combines over the next fortnight in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
The 71 state combine invitees include five late additions who shape as potential draft bolters – Ethan Phillips (Port Melbourne), Joe Richards (Wangaratta), Toby Murray (Murray Bushrangers), Ryan Eyres (Murray Bushrangers) and Harper Montgomery (North Adelaide).
Phillips won the Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal as the most promising young player in the VFL this year, while Murray is the brother of former Collingwood player Sam and former Adelaide player Nick.
Montgomery is the son of 2004 Port Adelaide premiership defender Brett and is father-son prospect for the Power this year, while Richards is a mature-age small forward who has attracted AFL interest for his performances in the Ovens and Murray league.
This year’s national draft will be held over two days – November 28 and 29 – with the pre-season and rookie drafts scheduled for November 30.
DRAFT COMBINE RECORDS
Standing vertical jump
89cm – Aiden Bonar (2017)
88cm – Marvin Baynham (2014)
87cm – Jordan Gallucci (2015)
85cm – Dean Towers (2012)
83cm – Jesse Lonergan (2012)
82cm – Kyron Hayden (2017)
82cm – Spencer White (2012)
80cm – Ben Paton (2017)
80cm – Eric Wallace (2012)
79cm – Harrison Jones (2017)
Running vertical jump
107cm – Leek Aleer (2021)
103cm – Kyron Hayden (2017)
102cm – Jared Brennan (2002)
102cm – Nic Naitanui (2008)
100cm – Corey Warner (2021)
99cm – Ben Paton (2017)
97cm – Evan Bruinsma (2014)
97cm – Kade Kolodjashnij (2013)
97cm – Lachlan Tiziani (2015)
96cm – Andrew McGrath (2016)
20-metre sprint
2.75sec – Joel Wilkinson (2010)
2.78sec – Jonathan Marsh (2013)
2.79sec – Danyle Pearce (2004)
2.80sec – Ashley Smith (2008)
2.81sec – Marvin Baynham (2014)
2.82sec – Nathan Freeman (2013)
2.82sec – Jack Watts (2008)
Agility test
7.77sec – Stephen Hill (2008)
7.79sec – Danyle Pearce (2004)
7.80sec – Nathan van Berlo (2004)
7.80sec – Elliot Yeo (2011)
7.86sec – Ahmed Saad (2011)
7.88sec – David Armitage (2006)
7.90sec – Kieran Lovell (2015)
7.90sec – Billie Smedts (2010)
7.91sec – Aaron Joseph (2007)
2km time trial
5min 28sec – Harry Sharp (2020)
5min 48sec – Cooper Hamilton (2021)
5min 50sec – Jay Rantall (2019)
5min 51sec – Finn Maginness (2019)
5min 52sec – Fraser Rosman (2020)
5min 57sec* – Josh Ward (2021)
5min 58sec – Hamish Sinott (2021)
5min 59sec* – Josh Fahey (2021)
6min 01sec – Dylan Stephens (2019)
*Recorded on running app Strava due to Covid restrictions
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Originally published as AFL draft 2022: Latest news and analysis from national and state combine
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