Tasmania’s AFL Draft hopes must get themselves noticed in TSL

A former AFL recruiter has explained why no under-18 NAB League this year and potentially reduced AFL lists puts the state’s young guns under pressure.

Devils forward Jackson Callow at Invermay Park. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

TASMANIA’S best young players need the TSL to start urgently to have any chance of being picked up in this year’s AFL Draft, says a former AFL recruiter.

With the NAB League cancelled due to the coronavirus shut-down, the draft-age players in the Tasmanian Devils under-18 team now have only the State League to showcase their talents to AFL recruiters.

Devils players like strong-marking forward Jackson Callow, who is a premiership player for North Launceston, Clarence inside midfielder Oliver Davis, and dashing North Hobart defender Sam Collins, must mark their mark in the limited opportunity a proposed 12-game TSL season will offer.

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Former Adelaide talent scout Brett Geappen, who lost that job in the AFL industry’s COVID-19 financial crisis, warned that talk smaller AFL team lists will make it harder to get drafted.

Brett Geappen.

“Smaller lists means less opportunities,” Geappen said.

Last year, 107 new players joined AFL ranks through the National Draft, Rookie Draft, Category B Rookie Program, Mid-Season Draft and pre-season supplemental selection period.

In 2018, 126 new players joined the AFL ranks through the same channels.

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“The gun players will always get drafted,” Geappen said.

“It’s certainly going to be tough for guys on the fringe or at the back end of a normal draft.

“No NAB League puts extra focus on the TSL.

“Recruiters will definitely look more to state leagues for the draft this year.

“If the TSL gets up and running, the guys who were earmarked for the draft will be watched at TSL level rather than the in the NAB League to get their exposure.”

Geappen said it could also advantage older players.

“They might look for more players in the VFL and state league clubs because, at 20, they know what players are like rather than getting them on a list for a couple of years and seeing how they develop,” Geappen said.

“Whereas by 20 or 21 you’ve got a better idea what they are going to be like.”