AFL Draft 2022: Brayden George to miss early games with Vic Country
One of the best Vic Country youths has been hit with a disheartening injury, potentially dropping him from top-10 draftee status.
Brayden George, one of the brightest talents in draft contention, will be missing when Victorian Country plays the first match of the under-18 national championships against South Australia on Sunday.
George, who has been likened to Melbourne superstar Christian Petracca as a player, was looming as a top-10 pick in this year’s national draft before suffering a knee injury in a recent match for the Murray Bushrangers.
He is expected to miss eight weeks with Victorian Country selectors hopeful he will be back playing in September leading into the draft two months later.
George was the notable absentee from the country squad announced last week that includes two players, Wodonga’s Oliver Hollands and Foster’s Zane Duursma, whose brothers Elijah and Xavier are already on AFL lists at Gold Coast and Port Adelaide.
Duursma is one of two bottom age players in the Victorian Country squad and not eligible to be drafted this year with the other bottom-age player being Harley Reid.
Other AFL Academy players in the squad are Aaron Cadman, Jhye Clark, Henry Hustwaite and Mitch Szybkowski.
Cadman is one of the brightest key position talents in the draft pool and Clark warmed up for the national championships with 33 possessions for Geelong Falcons at the weekend.
Another squad member, Archer Reid, also has a brother playing at AFL level presently, Zach, who is at Essendon.
The Victorian Country squad is being coached by Paul Corrigan, who also coaches Geelong Falcons in the under-18 NAB League.
“We feel we’ve got a fair depth of talent within the country regions and the most pleasing thing is we’ve seen these young men play games on a consistent basis,” Corrigan said.
“They’ve had to endure a lot in the last couple of years.
“But the way they’ve been playing and attacked not only this season, but the interruptions of past seasons, is a real credit to them.”
Maffra has the most players in the squad of any club in the state with three, Coby Burgiel, Jonti Schuback and Max Knobel.
Knobel is a 200cm giant like his father Trent, who played at three AFL clubs, Brisbane, Richmond and St Kilda before joining Maffra.
Schuback’s father Jacob played seven games for Adelaide and Burgiel’s father Hayden was drafted by Hawthorn before becoming a champion player for Maffra where he played in seven premierships and won the league best and fairest twice.
Maffra coach Anthony Robbins said the three selections from the club underlined the work done by its junior program.
“The individuals have obviously got the talent, but our junior footy club does a fantastic job,” he said.
“They feed players in from the whole region and people send their kids there because they do such a good job.”
Victorian Country plays its first match against South Australia in Adelaide on June 26.
THE VIC COUNTRY SQUAD
Jack O’Sullivan, Kyneton
Mitch Szybkowski, Beaconsfield
Jaxon Binns, Berwick
Jhye Clark, Queenscliff
Noah Long, Echuca
Jacob Konstanty, Drouin
Oliver Hollands, Wodonga
Zane Duursma, Foster
Jonti Schuback, Maffra
Charlie Barnett, Kyabram
Coby Burgiel, Maffra
Finn Emile-Brennan, Mt Eliza
Harley Reid, Tongala
Ted Clohesy, St Josephs
Caleb Mitchell, Yarrawonga
Toby McMullin, Port Fairy
Felix Fogarty, East Point
Aaron Cadman, Darley
Cooper Vickery, Bairnsdale
Oscar Murdoch, Newtown & Chilwell
Hugh Bond, North Ballarat
Henry Hustwaite, Rosebud
James Van Es, North Ballarat
Jed Brereton, Echuca
Archer Reid, Inverloch-Kongwak
Oliver Northam, St Joseph’s
Harvey Howe, Traralgon
Max Knobel, Maffra
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