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Vics set to swoop on young guns
15th October 2007, 10:30 WST
Recruiting staff from Collingwood and Hawthorn yesterday issued a clear warning to West Coast and Fremantle that their days of uncovering hidden local gems late in the draft were over after a season of fact-finding in Perth.
Collingwood’s Neil Ross and Hawthorn’s Gary Buckenara spent the 2007 season working full-time in Perth after their clubs reacted to 30 West Australians being selected in the 2006 national and rookie drafts.
Buckenara said it had allowed him to watch almost four times as many WAFL matches as he had while working as head of Hawthorn’s recruiting.
WA is expected to produce a bumper crop again this year, with Chris Masten, Rhys Palmer, David Myers and Cale Morton tipped to be early selections in next month’s national draft.
West Coast could snap up one of them with pick three, while Fremantle could also target home-grown talent with pick seven.
Hawthorn are well placed to scuttle any bid by the Eagles to claim a local with selection 13 when they enter the draft at No. 12. The Hawks will also have the pick before West Coast in each round of the rookie draft.
A record 37 West Australians were tested at the national draft camp in Canberra earlier this month and the State screenings at UWA yesterday.
Ross said the Magpies were better equipped to judge WA talent than in previous years.
“It’s been an enormous benefit,” he said. “You tend to spend a lot of time sifting through all of the talent and we can fast-track that to really identify the ones that we want to watch and home in on them.
“There’s so much talent in Western Australia and the Eagles and Dockers have had a pretty good run at it for a few years. They can’t hide them any more. I think more and more clubs will have people working over here on a more long-term basis.”
To highlight the bargains available in WA, six of this year’s state of origin team joined West Coast or Fremantle through the rookie draft and Michael Johnson received his chance through the pre-season draft.
Swan Districts best and fairest Luke Miles set tongues wagging yesterday when he shattered the draft camp’s 12-year-old sprint record set by former Docker Steven Koops. The 20-year-old defender ran the 20m in 2.72sec. to obliterate Koops’ time of 2.79sec.
“He had all of the recruiters scurrying for their notepads which is always a good sign,” WAFC talent and coaching manager Jon Haines said.
Havent heard his name mentioned before. Won the B & F for Swan Districts league side
Vics set to swoop on young guns
15th October 2007, 10:30 WST
Recruiting staff from Collingwood and Hawthorn yesterday issued a clear warning to West Coast and Fremantle that their days of uncovering hidden local gems late in the draft were over after a season of fact-finding in Perth.
Collingwood’s Neil Ross and Hawthorn’s Gary Buckenara spent the 2007 season working full-time in Perth after their clubs reacted to 30 West Australians being selected in the 2006 national and rookie drafts.
Buckenara said it had allowed him to watch almost four times as many WAFL matches as he had while working as head of Hawthorn’s recruiting.
WA is expected to produce a bumper crop again this year, with Chris Masten, Rhys Palmer, David Myers and Cale Morton tipped to be early selections in next month’s national draft.
West Coast could snap up one of them with pick three, while Fremantle could also target home-grown talent with pick seven.
Hawthorn are well placed to scuttle any bid by the Eagles to claim a local with selection 13 when they enter the draft at No. 12. The Hawks will also have the pick before West Coast in each round of the rookie draft.
A record 37 West Australians were tested at the national draft camp in Canberra earlier this month and the State screenings at UWA yesterday.
Ross said the Magpies were better equipped to judge WA talent than in previous years.
“It’s been an enormous benefit,” he said. “You tend to spend a lot of time sifting through all of the talent and we can fast-track that to really identify the ones that we want to watch and home in on them.
“There’s so much talent in Western Australia and the Eagles and Dockers have had a pretty good run at it for a few years. They can’t hide them any more. I think more and more clubs will have people working over here on a more long-term basis.”
To highlight the bargains available in WA, six of this year’s state of origin team joined West Coast or Fremantle through the rookie draft and Michael Johnson received his chance through the pre-season draft.
Swan Districts best and fairest Luke Miles set tongues wagging yesterday when he shattered the draft camp’s 12-year-old sprint record set by former Docker Steven Koops. The 20-year-old defender ran the 20m in 2.72sec. to obliterate Koops’ time of 2.79sec.
“He had all of the recruiters scurrying for their notepads which is always a good sign,” WAFC talent and coaching manager Jon Haines said.
Havent heard his name mentioned before. Won the B & F for Swan Districts league side
