2022 AFL Draft: How it went for Tasmania’s five young hopefuls
Tasmania had five young stars hopeful of hearing their name at Monday night’s AFL Draft at Marvel Stadium. Find out how they fared here.
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TASMANIA will have to wait until at least Tuesday night to grow its presence in the AFL after the state’s five genuine draft chances-including highly touted Devonport product Lachie Cowan- all missed out on selection in the first round of the National Draft on Monday night.
With this year’s draft held over two nights, Monday featured the first round-consisting of the top 18 picks- along with father-son and academy bidding, with no Tasmanians selected.
The Devils fab-five of Cowan, Tom McCallum, Seth Campbell, Brandon Leary and Cam Owen will now turn their attention to Tuesday night when the final 56 picks will be selected.
While Campbell, Leary, Owen and McCallum are all considered chances to be drafted, Cowan is almost guaranteed to hear his name on Tuesday night.
Cowan- who was considered a chance to be taken in the first round – is likely to hear his name in the opening picks of the second round after a dazzling season in defence for the Devils.
Cowan’s brilliance saw him claim the Morrish Medal as the NAB League’s best and fairest player after ranking elite for disposals (26.9 per game), marks (five per game), intercept marks (2.2 per game), intercept possessions (eight per game) and score involvements (5.3 per game).
Clarence youngster McCallum is viewed as the state’s second best draft chance ahead of Campbell, Leary, and Owen.
While all five Devils missed out on Monday night, Tasmania did have a connection in the first round with Jaspa Fletcher taken by the Brisbane Lions as a father-son selection.
The 18-year old gun onballer is the son of Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame star Adrian Fletcher, who after being drafted from Glenorchy in 1988 played 231 AFL games for the Cats, St Kilda, Brisbane and Fremantle, as well as being Dockers captain in 2000 and 2001.
The second night of the draft will start at 7pm.