Mitch will get picked up this year, he is too good
More than a year since his last game, Subiaco young gun Mitch Georgiades will finally get his chance to impress AFL recruiters when the national draft combine kicks off in Melbourne today.
The son of former Footscray and Subiaco forward John Georgiades missed all of this season because of a serious quad injury, sustained in last year’s AFL grand final curtain-raiser.
The athletic 191cm forward, who is tipped to go as high as top 30 in the national draft, was training with the Lions seniors and was in the mix for a league debut in the finals before ruling himself out.
“He’s travelling really well and probably could’ve played the last couple of finals games if it wasn’t at the end of the year,” WAFC state talent manager Adam Jones said.
“His training is going really well and we’re expecting him to test really well across the board.
“He’s been doing athletics at (Hale) school and he’s run a few good times, for his 100m he got an 11.36 (seconds).
“Subiaco were considering playing him in the league finals before Mitch made the call that it wasn’t a good idea after speaking with a few people close to him.”
Four of the 16-player WA contingent won’t be able to take part in the physical testing because of injury but still flew to Melbourne yesterday to have interviews with AFL clubs.
First-round draft fancies, WA captain and Larke medallist Deven Robertson (shoulder) and fellow under-18 All-Australian Liam Henry (knee), join Swan Districts pair Riley Garcia (knee) and Jake Pasini (shoulder) on the sidelines.
Henry, a Fremantle Next Generation Academy member, is set to resume running in the coming weeks after sustaining a dislocated knee cap playing for Christ Church Grammar School in August. Robertson has been on the track for the past few weeks.
West Perth’s Jaxon Prior, the son of ex-West Coast and Essendon player Michael, has recovered from a broken wrist which abruptly ended his season.
Jones expects big men Luke Jackson and Callum Jamieson to test well in the four-day event, with dashing wingman Jeremy Sharp and midfielder Chad Warner (both East Fremantle) also impressing with their running.
Jackson, likened to Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy, put up some ridiculous numbers for East Fremantle after returning from the national under-18s carnival, averaging 35 hit-outs and 21 disposals.
Jamieson was a massive contributor in the ruck in Claremont’s thrilling colts grand final win over Peel Thunder last month.
“Cal just finished his season with a really strong performance in the (colts) grand final,” Jones said.
“Luke’s flying with his running at the minute so I expect him to test the house down, he’s looking a million bucks.
“They’re both really good endurance runners for their size and hopefully that shows in the testing.”
All up, 79 draft hopefuls will attend this week’s combine.
WA national combine attendees
Claremont: Liam Henry, Callum Jamieson, Ronin O'Connor
East Fremantle: Jai Jackson, Luke Jackson, Trent Rivers, Trey Ruscoe, Jeremy Sharp, Chad Warner
Perth: Deven Robertson, Elijah Taylor
Subiaco: Mitch Georgiades
Swan Districts: Riley Garcia, Jake Pasini
West Perth: Ben Johnson, Jaxon Prior
